It influences public behaviour. People see things like this, and become less cautious. Which is, broadly, okay _if_ the optimistic view of Omicron is correct (ie more infectious than Delta, but more benign), but very much not okay if the pessimistic view is correct (either more infectious or better at immune escape than Delta, but just as severe as Delta in the unvaccinated/not previously infected).

Right now, no-one knows which of these, or some range between them, is true, and it's irresponsible to suggest that the optimistic case is true without more data (the headline in particular is very bad).