The South African doctor who first reported the Omicron variant said that the symptoms were so mild that nobody has been hospitalized with it yet.
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The chair of the South African Medical Association, Dr. Coetzee, told The Andrew Marr Show on Sunday that Omicron patients had reported feeling fatigued and had a headaches.
She said that the patients did not have a cough or lose their smell, which are typical symptoms of COVID-19.
Mild cases are what we are seeing in South Africa.
She said she hadn't admitted anyone with the Omicron variant yet.
Coetzee noted that it was too early to determine many factors of the new variant. She told The Guardian last week that she might have a different opinion in two weeks.
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It's too early to know if these symptoms will be the same for everyone. Scientists are unsure of whether Omicron poses a greater danger than other variant or what the variant's risk of severe disease is.
Jetelina, an epidemiologist at UTHealth School of Public Health, told Insider that they don't know if the new variant is better than Delta. We don't know if it will be able to evade our vaccines.
Omicron was first identified in South Africa and Botswana, and has since been found in Israel, the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, Australia, Belgium, and Hong Kong.
Canada reported two cases of the Omicron variant on Sunday.
In other parts of the world, cases are not as severe.
The director of public health in Essex, England, told Sky News that one of the people with the Omicron variant did not need to be hospitalized.
Coetzee said she was the first to suspect a new variant when patients in her private practice started reporting symptoms that were different from the Delta variant.
Omicron was labeled a variant of concern by the World Health Organization. Travel restrictions on southern African nations have been instituted by countries across Europe, Asia, and North America.
