The South African doctor who discovered and alerted people regarding COVID-19's new Omicron variant said in an interview that there is really nothing to worry about it because the symptoms exhibited by those affected are "unusual but mild."
The Gateway Pundit highlighted in its report that South African Dr. Angelique Coetzee told BBC over the weekend that patients who got infected by the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus have "extremely mild symptoms." Though Coetzee did not disregard the need for more time and study to arrive at the seriousness of Omicron to people who are vulnerable to the virus.
The South African Medical Association debunked the global hysteria that has risen since Friday due to Omicron. Coetzee, who is chairwoman of the South African Medical Association, said in an interview with Sputnik News that those who are infected only require home treatment.
"It presents mild disease with symptoms being sore muscles and tiredness for a day or two not feeling well. So far, we have detected that those infected do not suffer the loss of taste or smell. They might have a slight cough. There are no prominent symptoms. Of those infected some are currently being treated at home," Coetzee said.
In an interview with The Telegraph, Coetzee revealed that Omicron affected men who are mostly healthy and who just started "feeling so tired." This is based on observations she had on her two dozen patients infected with Omicron.
What makes Omicron "unusual," Coetzee explained, is that the symptoms exhibited by those afflicted with it are different. Besides intense fatigue, patients do not have a loss of taste or smell. There was also a patient who had high pulse rate, which happened to be a 6-year-old child. It was because of these unusual symptoms that she discovered from treating a family of four that she informed the vaccine advisory committee of South Africa.
"We had one very interesting case, a kid, about 6 years old, with a temperature and a very high pulse rate, and I wondered if I should admit her. But when I followed up two days later, she was so much better," Coetzee revealed.
"Their symptoms were so different and so mild from those I had treated before," she added.
"Round about the 18 November, I all of a sudden encountered unusual symptoms" in a patient who was "extremely tired for the past two days"
Dr Angelique Coetzee explains how she became aware of the Omicron coronavirus variant
https://t.co/RsskjmFkLd #Marr pic.twitter.com/pXtyYsQxxR"” BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) November 28, 2021
The doctor also pointed out Omicron's transmissibility, but found that there's too much hype being about it, considering the studies that are being undertaken surrounding the variant won't be made available until two weeks' time. She also disclosed that hospitals are not overburdened by Omicron.
Per Sputnik, the variant wasn't detected among the vaccinated. The Telegraph, however, said that among those who were infected, "about half of them were unvaccinated." The latter indicates that even the vaccinated could be infected with Omicron.
"Yes, it is transmissible, but for now, as medical practitioners, we do not know why so much hype is being driven as we are still looking into it. We will only know after two to three weeks as there are some patients admitted and these are young people aged 40 and younger," Coetzee disclosed.
This is why Coetzee raised that she finds the travel bans from Africa imposed by various countries as "premature because there is not enough information on how dangerous it is" as of this time. WND highlighted that Coetzee stressed that the hype given to Omicron is all based on "speculation."
"It's all speculation at this stage. It may be it's highly transmissible, but so far the cases we are seeing are extremely mild. Maybe two weeks from now I will have a different opinion, but this is what we are seeing. So are we seriously worried? No. We are concerned and we watch what's happening. But for now we're saying, 'OK: there's a whole hype out there. (We're) not sure why'," Coetzee emphasized.
Nonetheless, Coetzee urged people to get vaccinated as precautionary measure, indicating that vaccination is both the responsibility of the government and citizenry.
"Unfortunately, it's not only the responsibility of the government; it's the responsibility of the public as well...You can only ask people so many times to go and get vaccinated, and if you don't listen, then there's consequences, and then you have to take the consequences," Coetzee said.
