After the first Omicron wave, research shows that many of the risks of Covid infection changed
Before February 2022, always wearing face masks and being retired were associated with reduced risk, but not after
Overseas travel was not associated with increased risk prior to February 2022, but then became a significant risk
Peer reviewed – meta-regression- humans
New research from the University of East Anglia has found that wearing face masks did not lower the risk of Covid infection following the initial surge of the Omicron variant.
The analysis of official data found that several risk factors for infection altered significantly as the dominant variant in the UK changed from Delta to Omicron in December 2021.
These included wearing a mask, a history of foreign travel, household size, whether people were working or retired, and contact with children or over-70s.
Lead author Professor Paul Hunter, of Norwich Medical School at the University of East Anglia (UEA), said: “Early in the pandemic there were many studies published looking at risk factors for catching Covid, but far fewer studies after the first year or so.
“Our research shows that there were changes in some risk factors around the time that the Omicron BA.2 variant became dominant.” ..
2 Medical News 