Officials said hospitals are not overburdened with Omicron patients
Johannesburg:
Angelique Coetzee, president of the South African Medical Association, told Sputnik on Saturday that the new Omicron version of the coronavirus results in mild disease, without the major syndrome.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday identified the new South African strain of concern, as it is reported to carry a high number of mutations – 32 – that potentially make it more contagious and dangerous. The WHO has named it Omicron, the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet.
“It presents a mild illness in which the symptoms are muscle aches and no feeling of tiredness for a day or two. So far, we have found that infected people do not have a loss of taste or smell. They have a mild cough. There are no major symptoms. Some of those infected are currently being treated at home,” said Ms. Coetzee
The official said hospitals are not overburdened with Omicron patients and the new strain has not been detected in vaccinated individuals. At the same time, the situation may be different for the unaffiliated.
“We’ll know it only after two weeks. Yes, it’s passable, but for now, as medical practitioners, we don’t know why there’s so much hype because we’re still seeing it. All we need to do is Will know after two to three weeks as few patients have been admitted and are as young as 40 years old and younger,” Ms Coetzee said.
The president also criticized the decision by some countries to ban flights from South Africa because not enough is known about how dangerous it is.
Following reports about the new version, the United States, the European Union, Canada, Israel, Australia and other countries have banned travel from several southern African countries over health concerns.
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