SAWT BEIRUT INTERNATIONAL

| 29 March 2024, Friday |

COVID-19: Experts name one common symptom of Omicron variant

Scientists believe they might have identified at least one symptom of Omicron variant, as it continues to rapidly spread all over the world.
The new variant has been reported in at least 77 countries all over the world, and majority of the Omicron patients around the globe have scratchy throat common as a symptom of this new variant.
While scientists are still trying to understand the symptoms for the new variant, the chief executive of South Africa-based Discovery Health, Ryan Noach, said that majority of the patients all over the world have reported scratchy throat as an early symptom of Omicron variant.
Scratchy throat is usually followed by nasal congestion, dry cough and myalgia manifesting in lower back pain. While doctors have noted some other different symptoms in many other patients, scratchy throat has been a common one in majority.
He also stressed that even though these symptoms look and are mild at this point, it cannot be concluded that the variant is less severe or virulent.
Following on the warning by Noach, Sir John Bell, a leading British medical expert, also warned that the Omicron variant has been behaving strangely as compared to other strains of coronavirus. “The symptoms people get from this particular virus are different to the previous variants,” Sir John Bell told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday.
He also named stuffy nose, sore throat, loose stool and myalgia are the usual symptoms that have been reported in Omicron patients till now.
Meanwhile, Omicron variant has been spreading rapidly around the world. French Prime Minister Jean Castex has warned locals that the new variant may become dominant in the country by the start of 2022. However, he also added that “it does not seem to be more dangerous than the Delta variant and the data available to us indicate that complete vaccination coverage with the booster dose protects well against severe forms of the disease”.