COVID-19 symptoms and the Omicron variant: What the latest studies show
CBSN
Doctors studying Omicron's spread around the world have found new clues to the pattern of symptoms caused by the highly-mutated COVID-19 variant, which a growing number of reports suggest might show up differently and faster compared to the Delta variant it is now displacing.
Early evidence suggests that in many patients, Omicron is leading to a new trend of milder symptoms that mostly affect the upper respiratory system — the nose, mouth and throat. That may help explain why it appears to pose a smaller individual risk of hospitalization or severe disease than earlier strains of the virus, which often invaded the lungs.
"What is becoming clearer … is that Omicron seems to have lesser impact on lungs than prior variants," said Dr. Ronald Whelan, head of Discovery Health's COVID-19 task team.
