German hospitals hope Omicron - as milder variant - could ease burden

FILE PHOTO: People walk by a COVID-19 testing station on the shopping street Kurfuerstendamm, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Berlin, Germany, December 1, 2021. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse

BERLIN (Reuters) - The Omicron coronavirus variant could ease pressure on the German health system if it turns out to produce milder illness, even though infections are rising, the head of the country's association of senior hospital doctors (VLK) said on Sunday.

VLK President Michael Weber said coronavirus would no longer be a threat to the health system if Omicron became as dominant in Germany as it is in South Africa, Britain or Denmark and if the infections are as predominantly mild as there.