Omicron: Possible symptoms for new strain explained by a South African doctor

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Omicron: Possible symptoms for new strain explained by a South African doctor (Image: Pixabay)
Omicron: Possible symptoms for new strain explained by a South African doctor (Image: Pixabay)

New Delhi : We all know that the Omicron strain of coronavirus has been first detected in South Africa and it is believed to be more transmissible than the previous variants. A South African doctor who had raised alarm over the new variant said that the patients with the new strain had unfamiliar symptoms. However, the symptoms were mild and got cured without any urgent requirement of hospitalization.

Angelique Coetzee, chair of the South African Medical Association, told AFP she had seen around 30 patients over the past 10 days who tested positive for Covid-19 but had unfamiliar symptoms.

According to her, the Omicron strain infected patients reported extreme tiredness, mild muscle aches, a scratchy throat and dry cough. She told AFP that only a few patients had mild fever.

She also noted that the clinical picture was not fitting to the Delta variant, which was dominating South Africa in recent days.

"We are not saying that there will not be severe disease coming forward. But for now, even the patients that we have seen who are not vaccinated have mild symptoms. "I'm quite sure... a lot of people in Europe already have this virus," Coetzee said.

The patients treated by the doctor were mostly men and half of them had received their coronavirus vaccination.

Meanwhile, a global concern has been noted over Omicron and several nations have imposed travel ban on flights from South Africa.

"My suspicion is that because our scientists are very alert and doing a lot of sequencing in the background, maybe those European countries missed it because of the symptoms," Coetzee told TV news channel Newzroom Afrika.