V Although COVID-9’s Omicron variant has dominated the world’s newscasts this week, little is known about its effects on patients. But the doctor who first identified the signs of the new option warned
which symptoms to watch out for.
Dr Angelique Cutzi, a private doctor and president of the South African Medical Association, said this mutation in the coronavirus differed from the original. She says she noticed things in this version of COVID-19 that hadn’t been seen before when a 30-year-old man with viral symptoms came to her office.
“We had not seen new cases of COVID-19 in our region for about eight to 10 weeks,” she said. Then, “suddenly, on November 18, I saw young men with symptoms similar to a viral infection.”
“We did quick tests and they were positive for COVID-19. It is very unusual to see a 30-year-old man come to surgery, very rarely, after which they complain of severe fatigue, which they have suffered for the past two days with body aches and headaches, suggesting a viral infection. “Because the rest of the family wasn’t feeling well either, I decided to test them,” she said.
They tested positive for COVID-19 and Dr. Kutzi began to outline their symptoms, especially as more and more people began to come with such complaints.
“The main indicators are fatigue, body aches and headaches”,
she said. Dr. Kutzi also says that patients have not reported a loss of taste or smell so far, as in the Delta variant, and there has been no drop in blood oxygen levels, as seen in previous variants.
She also said she had seen more cases among younger people, especially those aged 40 and younger, but that they had recovered without any severe or permanent symptoms.
Other South African doctors also share Dr. Kutzi’s assessment, saying
the symptoms are mild.
Dr Unben Piley, a GP in Gauteng, where 81% of new cases have been reported, told a briefing in late November: “We are seeing a sharp increase in cases over the last 10 days. So far, they have been mostly very mild cases, with patients having flu-like symptoms: dry cough, fever, night sweats, a lot of body aches. Most of these patients were treated at home. “
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