By Promit Mukherjee

JOHANNESBURG – (Reuters) – South African doctors were among the first ones to identify a second coronavirus strain. They said Sunday that Omicron variant symptoms are mild and can be treated at the home.

Dr. Angelique Cetzee is a South African Medical Association chair and a private physician. She told Reuters that she observed seven patients who presented with symptoms not consistent with the dominant Delta variety, although they were “very mild.”

Omicron is the new designation for the World Health Organization. The variant was identified by South Africa’s National Institute of Communicable Diseases.

Coetzee reported that a Nov. 18 patient came to her clinic feeling “extremely tired” and suffering from headaches, bodyaches, and fatigue.

“Symptoms in that stage are very closely related to normal viral infections. “We decided to test, as we hadn’t seen COVID-19 in eight to 10 week, and the patient was positive, she explained.

On the same day, several patients brought in similar symptoms. She realized that there was “something else” going on. She has seen between two and three patients per day since then.

We have seen many Delta patients in the third wave. “And this does not fit into the clinical picture,” she stated, and added that she had alerted NICD the day before with her clinical results.

Most of these patients are experiencing very minor symptoms. None of the doctors have yet admitted any of their patients. She said that they were able to manage these patients at home.

Coetzee is also a member of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Vaccines. He stated that unlike the Delta, patients haven’t reported any loss in taste or smell and that there hasn’t been a significant drop in oxygen with the new version.

She has found that this variant affects people aged 40 and younger. Nearly half the Omicron-symptoms patients she treated did not have their vaccines.

The most common clinical complaint is fatigue lasting for one to two days. These include headaches, as well as body aches or pain.

There was a quick reaction by several countries to the news that South Africa had developed a new type of malaria. Britain issued a ban on travel on Friday for several African countries. This is a move South Africa strongly opposed.

Many countries have banned flights to South Africa since Friday. This includes the United States and other European countries.