By Clara-Laeila Laudette

(Reuters] – Omicron coronavirus variants are more likely to reinfect than Delta. A study done by Imperial College London has found that the risk is five times greater than Delta. As Omicron coronavirus cases increase across Europe and pose a threat to year-end celebrations,

Based on data from UK Health Security Agency, National Health Service and people who had tested positive for COVID-19 at a PCR testing in England between Nov. 29, and Dec. 11, the results of this study were derived.

The study concluded that there is no evidence of Omicron being different from Delta in terms of severity, but it did note that the data regarding hospitalisations was still very limited.

According to the Dec. 16 study, Omicron had a higher rate of reinfection than Delta when it was controlled for age, vaccine status, gender, ethnicity and symptomatic status.

Imperial College said that “This suggests that the protection against Omicron reinfection afforded past infection may be as low at 19%,” adding that it had not been peer-reviewed.

SIREN in Britain conducted an earlier study on reinfection risk among health workers. It was done before Omicron came out. The SIREN’s previous study, which looked at reinfection risks for healthcare workers and found that the first coronavirus-infected person provided protection of 85% against subsequent infections.

Imperial College analyzed data from 33,000 cases. This included Delta 122,062, 1,846 and Delta 122.062. The Omicron Coronavirus variant was confirmed through genome sequencing.

In an effort to stop the spread of this new variant, the findings may lead to the adoption of stricter regulations in many European countries.