Omicron symptoms: Here are the signs you should never ignore

Dr Angelique Coetzee a private practitioner and chair of the South African Medical Association Coronavirus cases in the UK are 'being missed' as people are looking for the wrong symptoms, an expert has warned. She said patients have not been reporting a loss of taste and smell.

The three main symptoms of Covid-19 include a new persistent cough, a high temperature and a loss of taste and smell.

Other experts have also warned that the symptoms will differ.

The Omicron variant has made its way across the UK and medics say it could be difficult to detect as the main symptoms are different from those laid out by the NHS.

Medics working in South Africa where the Omicron variant was first detected have however said that the main symptoms are fatigue, body aches and a headache.

The emergence of the new coronavirus variant known as Omicron has already impacted travel rules and sparked a return to compulsory mask-wearing on public transport.

Some 246 cases of Omicron – also known as B.1.1.529 – were confirmed in the UK as of Sunday.

But what do we know about the new strain so far, and what could it mean for future restrictions?

– How would you know if you have contracted the Omicron strain?

People with Covid-19 symptoms should take a PCR test, and scientists can determine which strain they have contracted if it is positive.

This requires genetic analysis in a laboratory and can take up to 14 days.

Not all UK labs are equipped with the technology needed to identify Omicron cases, which means some parts of the country will be able to track the spread more easily than others.

Rapid or lateral flow tests cannot tell you which variant you have been infected with, but scientists believe they will still reflect a positive result if you have the Omicron variant.

– Can you contract Omicron if you have previously had Covid-19?

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said preliminary evidence suggests those who have already had Covid-19 are at increased risk of being infected with Omicron, compared with other variants.

However, the WHO has stressed that more information is needed in the coming weeks to verify this.

– When did Omicron first appear?

UK scientists became aware of the new strain on November 23, after samples were uploaded to a coronavirus variant tracking website from South Africa, Hong Kong and then Botswana.

The WHO designated it a “variant of concern” on November 26, because it has several mutations which mean it is more difficult to predict how it will behave.

– How is Omicron different to other variants?

The latest variant involves mutations on the spike protein of the virus, which is the part targeted by most vaccines.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), scientists differentiate Omicron from other variants by identifying patterns among three genes in positive results – the S gene, the ORF1ab gene and the N gene.

Delta variant infections usually test positive for all three genes, whereas the Omicron variant is known to test negative for the S gene.