early data are based largely on reports from South Africa—a country with a relatively young population and high level of prior infection—and on reports involving international travelers, who tend to be younger and healthier.
If Omicron does cause less severe disease than previous variants, the sheer number of infections could still result in a similar or greater number of severe cases.
One third the lethality doesn't help when there are three times as many cases.
lethality is linear, spread is exponential