South African doctor finds omicron sign lighter than delta

By ANDREW MELDRUM
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JOHANNESBURG (AP) – Health experts still don’t know if the omicron variant causes milder COVID-19, but more indicators are emerging from South Africa. Doctors there say the patients they are seeing now are not as sick as those who have been infected with the delta variant. Recent data show far fewer hospitalizations and deaths than in previous episodes. But it’s only been two weeks since omicrons were first reported in Africa, and scientists warn that it will be many more weeks to know if their initial observations are consistent. While delta remains the mainstream worldwide, omicrons have appeared in dozens of countries and have become dominant in South Africa.