Patients With Omicron Coronavirus Strain Show No Special Symptoms - South African Official

South African doctors have not observed any special symptoms in patients with the Omicron coronavirus strain compared to those with the Delta one, with the only notable difference being that the cases of the new variant are milder, vice-chair of the South African Medical Association Mvuyisi Mzukwa said

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 01st December, 2021) South African doctors have not observed any special symptoms in patients with the Omicron coronavirus strain compared to those with the Delta one, with the only notable difference being that the cases of the new variant are milder, vice-chair of the South African Medical Association Mvuyisi Mzukwa said.

"There is nothing much that we see beyond what we have seen with the Delta variant," Mzukwa was quoted as saying by the CNN.

He noted that doctors in South Africa, where the new strain originated, see more younger patients and milder cases of Omicron compared to Delta, according to the broadcaster.

"Also, what we've noted is that the people that are being hospitalized are largely unvaccinated, about 90% of those are unvaccinated." he added.

The new Omicron variant was first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) by South Africa on November 24. According to the WHO, its high number of mutations in spike protein could make it more transmissible and dangerous than all previous strains.

The emergence of Omicron has resulted in the implementation of travel restrictions from southern African countries by governments around the world in an effort to slow the spread of the mutated virus strain.