Omicron symptoms "totally different" from Delta COVID-19 variant: South African doctor

As more research is done into the newly discovered Omicron COVID-19 variant, some evidence is emerging to suggest that it might not present the same way as other strains of the disease.

Patients infected with the Omicron COVID-19 variant look very different than those infected with previous variants like Delta, says the chair of South Africa’s medical association.

“It’s totally different from the Delta,” Dr. Angelique Coetzee told Global News Morning on Tuesday.

She said that these patients aren’t displaying the same loss of taste and smell, need for supplemental oxygen or elevated pulse rate that doctors noted with Delta patients.

“It’s very much like a cold or flu type of symptoms,” she said, adding that patients are reporting headaches and body aches, and a slight sore throat.