Think you may have Omicron? Here are things you can do

The Omicron variant is so transmissible and so widespread across Canada that it's likely that you know someone who has it right now, or you have it yourself.

The variant is shattering case records and sending test positivity rates soaring. As of Thursday, Ontario's COVID-19 test positivity rate is 29.2 per cent, while Quebec's health minister said the health-care system is missing about 20,000 workers who have been infected with or exposed to the virus. 

"I think that people [are] having a very hard time wrapping their head around how much that Omicron has changed the rules of the game and how we have to change how we handle it in terms of our own individual risks, as well as our behaviour within a society," said Dr. Matthew Oughton, in an interview with Dr. Brian Goldman, host of CBC podcast The Dose.  

The incubation period for Omicron is shorter compared to previous variants, and is about three days, says Oughton, an infectious diseases specialist at Jewish General Hospital in Montreal. 

Rules and guidance around what to do are changing rapidly, but there are a few key things you need to know right now.

In many parts of Canada, it can be extremely difficult to get access to PCR testing to determine if you have COVID — and that's if you meet the criteria. Rapid antigen tests may be just as hard to find.

If you have the symptoms of an upper respiratory tract infection, "right now the chances that it's Omicron are very, very high," said Oughton.

Those symptoms include sore throat, runny nose, aches and pains, a dry cough, fever, nausea and diarrhea. Oughton noted that he is seeing fewer people who experience a loss of taste or smell with Omicron as compared to previous variants, although it is still happening to some.

If you do have access to a rapid test, test yourself a day or so after a suspected exposure, and don't assume that your negative result means you're in the clear.

"Especially if you have compatible symptoms, take a negative result with not just one grain of salt, but with maybe a whole truckload of salt," said Oughton.

If someone else in your household has tested positive or has symptoms, it's probably safe to assume you do, too.

"What we're seeing with … pretty early data is household attack rates are very, very high with Omicron, even compared to other variants of SARS-CoV-2, and that was already fairly high," said Oughton.

WATCH | Tips for treating your Omicron symptoms:

If you can, it's important to get vaccinated or boosted.