Early data suggests Omicron cases could be milder, but take that with a grain of salt, experts say

Some of the earliest data from around the world suggests that many people infected with the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus ended up with milder symptoms.

Some have described the sickness as being more like a cold, while others skip typical COVID-19 symptoms entirely.

But Canadian experts agree it is too soon to assume the variant will affect everybody the same way once it spreads through the population.

"Do not assume yet that this is just a no-harm virus that we have circulating," said Dr. Lisa Barrett, an infectious disease physician and researcher with Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia. "It's not time for us to consider this the common cold."

They also caution against being too hung up on specific signs and symptoms — even if a case feels just like an awful cold, Omicron is still a highly transmissible variant with the potential to quadruple national case counts.

Much, if not all, of British Columbia's earliest Omicron data comes from an outbreak among dozens of young students at the University of Victoria.

The local health authority said 104 of the 169 cases in the outbreak are Omicron. Sixty-five more are expected to be confirmed as the variant in coming days.

All of the cases to date have been mild.

"Of those individuals to date that we've been following that have been either fully vaccinated with two doses or a single dose, none of them have been hospitalized or had any severe consequences as a result of acquiring Omicron," Island Health's chief medical officer Dr. Richard Stanwick told CBC on Monday.

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Early data from other countries has been similar.

The majority of the first 43 Omicron cases in the U.S. brought cold-like symptoms, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wrote Friday.

"The commonly reported symptoms were cough, fatigue and congestion or runny nose," the report said.

Fewer people reported familiar COVID-19 symptoms like fever, shortness of breath or vomiting. Only three people said they'd lost their sense of taste or smell.