“The new Omicron variant of the coronavirus causes a mild disease without major symptoms”: said, reported by various media, Angelique Coetzee, president of the Association of Doctors of South Africa, the country from which the variant comes and which has isolated it.
However, Dr. Coetzee pointed out that elderly people and people suffering from diseases are still at risk. In statements cited by the Telegraph, she states that the possibility of a new variant had already emerged several days ago, due to the presence in the private clinic she managed in Pretoria of people who presented symptoms that initially did not seem those characteristic of Covid. People of all ethnicities showed up with a sense of fatigue, children with a rapid heartbeat, without anyone presenting one of the most typical symptoms of the new coronavirus infection, that is, the loss of taste and smell. “Their symptoms were very different and mild from those I had treated previously,” says the president of South African doctors, who has been in the profession for 33 years.
Coetzee explained that his patients did not have severe symptoms, that they were fine, but expressed concern about older people, who are more vulnerable, especially if they have heart disease or diabetes.
“What we need to worry about is that older, unvaccinated people get infected with the new variant (Omicron). And if they aren’t vaccinated, we will see many people with severe forms of the disease,” Coetzee said, recalling how the situation in South Africa is very different from that in Britain or Europe, due to the low incidence of the vaccination campaign and the insignificant portion of the population over 65, equal to only 6%.
breaking latest news © Copyright ANSA
.