W hile it is foolish to prematurely be overly optimistic, early signs show that  Omicron might be more infectious than Delta, but not as deadly .  However, while vaccines still work, they seem not to be as effective.  Yet, they clearly reduce the  incidence of hospitalization and death.  For one, those who are infected with Omicron apparently experience a lower incidence of taste/smell loss.  What seems possible then is that Omicron will shortly replace Delta as the prominent variant, and cases might still continue to increase.  However the mortality rate should drop. Delta was 64% more deadly than the original and earlier variants, and caused  double the risk of hospitalization compared to Alpha .  In general: The COVID-19 mortality rate for the World is 2%. U.S.  1.78% India  1.3% Russia  2.86% South Africa  2.96% Japan  1.06% China  4.7% Further: There is no consensus on the asymptomatic rate, or what percentage of those counted as cases were asymptomatic.  Thus, if there were 50% m