Covid. Symptoms have changed with Omicron, pandemic control threat update failed
Failure to list new symptom variants is a threat to pandemic control.
The omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 is now dominant in Europe. Although studies have found omicron to be less likely to cause serious disease than the delta variant, this highly infectious strain of SARS-CoV-2 has led to the highest covid-19 rates ever seen. with several hospitals reporting critical incidents due to increasing pressure and staff absences.
In addition to boosting the adoption of vaccinations, the test, tracking and isolation system remains the most important tool for addressing the spread of covid-19 and protecting the NHS. However, these measures can only be successful if built on a foundation of adequate messaging and public trust.
That omicron infection produces milder symptoms and causes less severe disease is certainly a good thing, but that also means it’s much harder to detect, making an effective testing program more crucial than ever.. Since it is now known that the primary symptoms of the omicron variant include runny nose, headache, fatigue, sneezing and sore throat, it is profoundly unnecessary that the government has not updated the official list of symptoms.
Keeping up with the virus
Similar to improving domestic and international vaccine adoption, the importance of a well-functioning testing regimen cannot be underestimated in efforts to address covid-19. The Emergency Science Advisory Group recommends prioritizing rapid tests on symptomatic people over testing asymptomatic people in epidemic areas to have the maximum effect on case identification and reduction of transmission.
With Covid not updating symptoms, infected people do not test and isolate themselves, continuing to spread this highly infectious virus.
In addition to a well-functioning test system, there needs to be better support for those who need to isolate themselves following a positive test result. Throughout the pandemic we have seen the clear consequences of health inequalities manifest themselves, with communities most at risk of serious illnesses from covid-19 also the least likely to come forward for testing and vaccination.
If the mission of states is to control and prevent the spread of covid-19 to save lives and protect the NHS, vaccine, swab, tracking and isolation remain the most important tools to achieve this.