South African Doctor Who Raised Alarm About Omicron Variant: 'Symptoms Were So Different And So Mild'
Rebecca Downs|Posted: Nov 27, 2021 7:30 PM
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/rebeccadow...o-mild-n2599733



As I reported on Friday, the Biden administration is restricting travel from eight African countries beginning Monday, after a new "variant of concern," known as omicron, was detected in South Africa. While there have been some extreme reactions, such as Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) already signing an emergency order for New York State, the symptoms appear to be "so different," and "so mild." This is what Dr. Angelique Coetzee, the South African doctor who informed the country's vaccine advisory committee, told The Telegraph.

As Peta Thornycroft and Will Brown reported for the outlet on Saturday:

The first South African doctor to alert the authorities about patients with the omicron variant has told The Telegraph that the symptoms of the new variant are unusual but mild.

Dr Angelique Coetzee said she was first alerted to the possibility of a new variant when patients in her busy private practice in the capital Pretoria started to come in earlier this month with Covid-19 symptoms that did not make immediate sense.

They included young people of different backgrounds and ethnicities with intense fatigue and a six-year-old child with a very high pulse rate, she said. None suffered from a loss of taste or smell.

“Their symptoms were so different and so mild from those I had treated before,” said Dr Coetzee, a GP for 33 years who chairs the South African Medical Association alongside running her practice.-- excerpt, rest at link above --