Doctor explains ‘unusual’ symptoms of new Omicron coronavirus variant

29 November 2021, 11:17

By Naomi Bartram

@naomibartram

What are the Omicron coronavirus variant symptoms? Here’s what a doctor has said…

The government has introduced emergency new measures after a new strain of coronavirus was detected in the UK.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson told a Downing Street press conference on Saturday that the Omicron variant appears to spread ‘very rapidly’.

From tomorrow (Tuesday 30), it will be compulsory to wear face masks on public transport and in shops, while travel rules have also been tightened.

• All the coronavirus rules set to change in England tomorrow
• Covid guidelines around isolation: What are the rules?
• Pet dog tests positive for Covid in first confirmed UK case

But what are the symptoms of the new Omicron coronavirus variant? Here’s what a South African doctor has said...

What are the Omicron coronavirus variant symptoms?

According to the South African doctor who first raised the alarm over the new Omicron strain of Covid, symptoms have been described as ‘unusual’.

Dr. Angelique Coetzee, who is chair of the South African Medical Association, told the BBC that patients have been suffering ‘extremely mild’ illnesses compared to the delta variant.

She said: “It actually started with a male patient who’s around the age of 33 ... and he said to me that he’s just [been] extremely tired for the past few days and he’s got these body aches and pains with a bit of a headache.”

The man also didn’t lose his sense of taste or smell and had a ‘scratchy throat’, rather than a sore throat and cough as previously seen.

Dr Coetzee said she tested the patient for Covid, and he was positive, as was his family.

She said she saw more patients in the same day that had showed similar symptoms that varied from previous strains of Covid.

“What we are seeing clinically in South Africa — and remember I’m at the epicentre of this where I’m practicing — is extremely mild,” she continued.

“For us [these are] mild cases. We haven’t admitted anyone, I’ve spoken to other colleagues of mine and they give the same picture.”

In the UK, the government has now put several southern Africa countries on the red travel list.