This morning, ‘Omicron variant mild symptoms’ was a breakout search term on Google. Why? Because after a weekend of watching the Omicron variant cases go from zero to nine, it was reported that this new covid strain appears to present much less severely in the body.
The news comes from Dr Angelique Coetzee, a private practitioner and chair of South African Medical Association, who was one of the first to suspect a new variant of covid had emerged in South Africa.
She told Reuters that on 18 November she noticed seven patients at her clinic who had symptoms different from the dominant Delta variant, notably ‘very mild’ by comparison. It comes after scientists have spent the last few days analysing the new Omicron variant to better understand how transmissible it is compared to others we’ve experienced here in the UK – such as the Alpha and Delta variants.
Does the Omicron variant have mild symptoms?
Right now, as Omicron variant cases are relatively low outside of South Africa, it’s difficult for experts to establish the efficacy of vaccinations against Omicron compared to other covid variants, nor whether Omicron symptoms are in fact mild. However, should the variant present similarly in people in the UK as South Africa, Dr Coetzee said the symptoms she’s seen so far were ‘very, very mild.’
‘We have seen a lot of Delta patients during the third wave. And this doesn't fit in the clinical picture,’ she explained. ‘Most of them are seeing very, very mild symptoms and none of them so far have admitted patients to surgeries. We have been able to treat these patients conservatively at home.’
Dr Coetzee said that she first saw a patient with the variant on the 18th November after they reported being ‘extremely fatigued’ with body aches and a headache for two days. ‘Symptoms at that stage was very much related to normal viral infection and because we haven't seen COVID-19 for the past eight to 10 weeks, we decided to test,’ she said.
The patient and his family turned out to be positive, with Dr Coetzee seeing more patients with similar symptoms come in later that day, which is when she realised there was ‘something else going on’. She has since seen two to three patents a day.
Almost half of patients with Omicron symptoms that Dr Coetzee treated were not vaccinated, and she told Reuters that the variant so far, in her experience, is affecting people aged 40 or younger. However, South Africa does have a largely younger population compared to the UK – prompting concern that the Omicron variant may not present with as mild symptoms here.
What are the symptoms of the Omicron variant?
With that in mind, the World Health Organisation has said there is currently no data to suggest symptoms of the Omicron variant are different to other covid strains. Dr Coetzee says the main symptom she saw was fatigue, telling AFP that a ‘scratchy throat, mild headache and body aches’ were also noted.
Unlike the Delta variant, Dr Coetzee said none of her patients have reported a loss of smell or taste and there has been no major drop in oxygen levels.
Of course, the point remains that we do not yet know whether symptoms will be as mild in the UK – where cases are currently rising. As it stands, the NHS website lists the main coronavirus symptoms as follows:
a high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature).
a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual).
a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you've noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal.
We can of course hope for the best that the Omicron variant symptoms are mild, but we must also do our part in preventing the spread of the virus and presume the worst if we’re to keep people safe this Christmas.
If you have any of the main symptoms of COVID-19 - even if they're mild - get a PCR test to check if you have COVID-19 as soon as possible. Stay at home and do not have visitors (self-isolate) until you get your test result – only leave your home to have a test.
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