South African Expert Say Omicron Symptoms 'Mild' So Far; World Health Organization Urges Caution

Virologist Barry Schoub, Chairman of South Africa's Ministerial Advisory Committee on COVID-19 vaccines, says symptoms related to the omicron coronavirus variant have been mild so far.

What Happened: Schoub told Sky News on Sunday that while South Africa currently has 3,220 individuals with coronavirus infections, there’s been no real uptick in hospitalizations, according to a Bloomberg report.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization says there’s currently “no information” that symptoms caused by omicron are different from other strains. The WHO said there was preliminary data showing increasing hospitalizations, “but this may be due to increasing overall numbers of people becoming infected, rather than a result of specific infection with omicron.”

Angelique Coetzee, chair of the South African Medical Association, was the doctor who first identified the new variant. She called symptoms associated with omicron “different and so mild” compared with others she’d treated.

Coetzee tells the U.K. Telegraph that several healthy young men she treated reported “feeling so tired.” About half were unvaccinated.

Why It Matters: Omicron was first detected in South Africa and has led to worldwide concerns about the spread of the new variant. The European Union, Japan, Australia, the United States and Canada have moved to block flights from African countries to contain the spread of the new variant.

Despite the bans, omicron is being found in a growing number of countries. At least 13 passengers from South Africa tested positive for the variant after landing in Amsterdam on Friday. Two cases found in the UK were linked to travel to Southern Africa. Italy confirmed one case of omicron in a traveler arriving from Mozambique.

Two German cases, identified in Munich, were passengers from Cape Town on November 24. While two omicron cases have been detected in Australia in passengers arriving in Sydney from Southern Africa.

Related Story: Moderna May Have a New Vaccine For Omicron COVID Strain By Early 2022