Omicron has mild symptoms; no loss of taste, smell: Doctors

JAIPUR: After keeping a close eye on the symptoms of the nine cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19, doctors at the Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Medical College have said they did not find any complications and the symptoms were mild.

The doctors said the symptoms of the Omicron variant were mostly different from that of the Delta variant, which dominated the second wave of Covid-19. The doctors claimed that the criticality is much less in Omicron than in the Delta variant.

"All nine patients are stable. While some of them are asymptomatic, others have mild symptoms. They do not have complications and are on the path of recovery," Dr Sudhir Bhandari, principal, and controller of SMS medical college, told TOI.

The doctors are conducting their tests, including HRCT and other tests such as D-dimer, but none of them reported any complications. In Omicron-positive patients, involvement of lungs has not been found yet, which was quite common among Delta patients. "None of the nine patients have lost their taste or smell. This is unlike the Delta variant. Also, none of them has any difficulty in breathing and they do not require any oxygen," said Dr Bhandari, who added that they are constantly monitoring the situation in South Africa, where the Omicron variant is taking a toll on the health of the people.

"In South Africa, out of 1,000 patients, only 4.9% required ICU beds. The criticality is less in the case of Omicron, but manifold transmissibility and infectivity is a concern," said Dr Bhandari.

Since omicron has entered the state, Dr Bhandari said two doses of vaccination is important as those who are doubly vaccinated have very mild symptoms. The doctor also urged residents to follow Covid appropriate behaviour.