The effective reproductive number of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 is several times relative to Delta

Ying Liu; Joacim Rocklöv

doi:10.1093/jtm/taac037

The effective reproductive number of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 is several times relative to Delta

J Travel Med. 2022 May 31;29(3):taac037. doi: 10.1093/jtm/taac037.

Authors

Ying Liu¹, Joacim Rocklöv^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ School of International Business, Xiamen University Tan Kah Kee College, Zhangzhou, 363105, China.
² Heidelberg Institute of Global Health & Interdisciplinary Centre for Scientific Computing, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, 69120, Germany.
³ Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Section of Sustainable Health, Umeå University, Umeå, SE-90187, Sweden.

Abstract

Our review found the effective reproduction number and basic reproduction number of the Omicron variant elicited 3.8 and 2.5 times higher transmissibility than the Delta variant, respectively. The Omicron variant has an average basic and effective reproduction number of 8.2 and 3.6.

Keywords: B.1.1.529; Delta variant; Omicron variant; R0; Re; SARS-CoV-2; effective reproduction number; the basic reproduction number; variants of concern.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Basic Reproduction Number
COVID-19*
Humans
SARS-CoV-2*

Supplementary concepts

SARS-CoV-2 variants