Are hospital admissions still the best way to gauge the Covid crisis?

Using the number of people in hospitals with Covid-19 to gauge the severity of the pandemic may not give an accurate picture in the Omicron era as more and more patients with the virus are being admitted for other reasons, some scientists say.

Governments have focused on hospitalisations to determine the need for restrictions but the data does not typically differentiate between people admitted because of Covid-19 and those who test positive in the wards during routine checks.