As the world is preparing to tackle the new COVID variant Omicron, which is believed to be more transmissible than the previous variants, a South African doctor who raised the alarm over this new variant revealed that the patients she treated had unfamiliar symptoms.
The South African doctor who raised the alarm over this new variant revealed that the patients she treated had unfamiliar symptoms. But the symptoms were mild and her patients recovered fully without hospitalisation.
Angelique Coetzee, chair of the South African Medical Association, was quoted as saying by news agency AFP that she had seen around 30 patients over the past 10 days who tested positive for Covid-19 but had unfamiliar symptoms.
“What brought them to the surgery was this extreme tiredness,” she said. She said this was unusual for younger patients. Most were men aged under 40 and only under half were vaccinated.
They also had mild muscle aches, a “scratchy throat” and dry cough, she said. Only a few had a slightly high temperature. These very mild symptoms were different to other variants, which gave more severe symptoms. Coetzee alerted health officials of South Africa’s dominant variant on November 18, when she received the first seven of her 30-odd patients.
