According to Bloomberg News, the people that have been reeling under the infection of the new Covid variant, Omicron in South Africa are manifesting symptoms that are different from what we had seen in the case of the Delta variant. This was revealed by the doctor who had warned the government scientists about it being a new Covid variant.
Patients that have got infected with the variant have complained about fatigue, body ache, headache, coughs, sore throat that may be occasional, as stated by Angelique Coetzee, who is associated with the South African Medical Association as Chairwoman. Delta variants, on the other hand, caused elevated pulse rates, loss of smell and taste, and lower oxygen levels.
After several weeks of no Covid patients that came to see her during her practice at Pretoria, the epicenter of the current variant and sudden surge, Coetzee noticed that patients started complaining of the above symptoms since November 18th. She brought the sudden surge of patients and the symptoms to the notice of the Ministerial Advisory Council on Covid of the government on and the laboratories at once identified as a new strain and variant, reports Bloomberg News.
She also said that “I said these different symptoms can’t be a delta, they are very similar to beta or it must be a new strain” while giving an interview on Monday. She also said that she does not think that it will be severe but thinks that it will be a mild one hopefully.
The new mutation is being analyzed by The World Health Organization and it has been said that it is early to explain how it might be transmitted or how transmissible it is or how severe. It has asked countries to start carrying out tests for omicron, stating that due to the design being diverse, there are chances of a surge in the future.
First detected in Botswana
South Africa announced the new variant on November 25th, stating that the first of the few cases had been reported in Botswana and its neighbors and a few others in Tshwane, which is the municipal area where Pretoria is. Following the announcement, there was panic all over the globe, sending markets roiling and reintroducing travel bans on South African countries.
The scientists are advising the South African government that although omicron appears to be easily transmissible, the cases seem to be mild. Despite that, they can evade vaccines.
The patients of Coetzee that have been infected are young and a 66-year old vaccinated patient returned positive results but reported to be mildly sick, reports Bloomberg News.
