The new version of the coronaviruses, called the Omicron variant, has caused a lot of concern, but some experts are suggesting that it may cause only mild illness, without the trademark symptoms of Covid.
It's too early to assume that the variant won't cause severe illness, warned Richard Lessells, who coordinates clinical and epidemiological data for the South African Covid Variant Research Consortium.
He said that younger people were more likely to experience mild illness from the early infections in South Africa. The picture may change as the virus spreads.
The variant has been seen in at least a dozen countries, including Britain and the Netherlands. Many others are watching cases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that Omicron has not yet appeared in the United States.
Omicron has a lot of new genes that may allow the virus to be more contagious and sidestep immune defenses. Dr. Coetzee said on Saturday that the nation's hospitals were not overrun by patients with the new variant, and that most were not fully immunized.
She told reporters that most patients she had seen had a slight cough and did not lose their sense of smell or taste.
That may not be as reassuring as it sounds. The majority of South Africa's cases were initially found in the province of the same name, according to Dr. Lessells, who is also an infectious disease physician.
He said that they would expect the majority of those to be mild cases.
There is barely enough time for infections to progress to severe disease and hospitalization.
If there is a significant rise in hospitalizations over the next week or two, that will be clear if Omicron causes severe illness.
Some cases of reinfection suggest that the variant can overcome natural immunity, and scientists have not yet analyzed infections in fully immunized people.
He and his colleagues will be looking at the latest data on Monday to spot trends and plan for Omicron's spread.
