People wearing masks walk in a shopping mall in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Highlight
- WHO identifies new South African strain as a concern
- Hospitals not overburdened by Omicron patients, says official
- At the same time, the situation may be different for the unaffiliated
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 as a concern, as it is reported to carry a high number of mutations—32, potentially making it more transmissible and dangerous.
The WHO has named it Omicron, the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet. “It presents a mild disease with symptoms including muscle aches and no feeling of tiredness for a day or two. So far, we have found that infected people do not have loss of taste or smell. They may have a mild cough. There are no major symptoms. Some of those infected are being treated at home,” Coetzee said.
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 only know it after two weeks. Yes, it’s passable, but for now, as medical practitioners, we don’t know why there’s so much hype going on because we’re still seeing it. We Will only know after two. three weeks because some patients are admitted and these are young people aged 40 and under,” 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.
(with ANI inputs)
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