South African Doctor Who Identified Omicron Variant Urges Calm: ‘No Reason For Panicking’

The South African doctor who first identified the Omicron variant of the coronavirus is speaking out and emphasizing that more time is necessary to truly understand it.

Dr. Angelique Coetzee, chairwoman of the South African Medical Association, spoke to multiple media outlets over the weekend about the unusual symptoms she spotted in patients diagnosed with the Omicron variant. In describing the symptoms that were exhibited in lieu of more common ones like loss of taste or smell, Coetzee categorized the effects as “mild” to The Telegraph, and stressed that “currently there’s no reason for panicking as we don’t see severely ill patients.”

Coetzee elaborated that the symptoms of Omicron patients appear to be fatigue, body aches, and a recurring dry cough. She said many of the patients managed to recover on their own, though she had concerns about how the variant might affect the elderly or people with underlying health issues.

“What we have to worry about now is that when older, unvaccinated people are infected with the new variant, and if they are not vaccinated, we are going to see many people with a severe [form of the] disease,” said Coetzee.

The spread of Omicron has prompted new health concerns in the U.S. and abroad. South African health minister Joe Phaahla has been condemning the “knee-jerk” reaction from countries enacting new travel restrictions in light of the new variant, and Coetzee told The Guardian that current predictions about Omicron are “premature.”

“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,” said Coatzee. “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.’”

Watch above, via The Telegraph.