On Friday, the stock market crashed by 900 points as politicians in cities across the globe started to panic over the latest variant of Wuhan coronavirus.
But based on what we know so far, the latest version of the disease isn't making people sicker. South African Doctor Angelique Coetzee, who is on the team that discovered the variant, has repeatedly said symptoms are "very, very mild."
"What we are seeing clinically in South Africa, and remember that I'm at the epicenter, that's where I'm practicing, is extremely mild," Coetzee said during an interview with the BBC. "We haven't admitted anyone. I spoke to other colleagues of mine: The same picture."
"What we have to worry about now is that when older, unvaccinated people are infected with the new variant, and if they are not vaccinated, we are going to see many people with a severe disease," she told the Telegram.
NEW: From Reuters??
— Rosie's Virus Branding Crisis (@DarnelSugarfoo) November 28, 2021
South African Doctor:
"Looking at the the mildness of the symptoms, there is no reason for panicking, as we don't see severely ill patients"
"The hype that's been created out there in the media & worldwide doesn't correlate with the clinical picture" pic.twitter.com/g7tSas0qqK
Information from Israeli health officials also shows this to be true.
Prof. Dror Mevorach, head of the coronavirus department at Hadassah University Hospital Ein Karem, said the preliminary reports on the clinical condition of people infected with the new variant are encouraging. “If it continues this way, this might be a relatively mild illness compared to the delta variant, and paradoxically, if it takes over, it will lead to lower infection rates,” and it will be easier to deal with globally.
“It’s still early to say, but not everything that looks bad is really bad. At this point it’s important to collect information, not speculations,” he added.
Meanwhile, Dr. Anthony Fauci is continuing his usual fearmongering and warning Americans lockdowns could be on the way.
Dr. Anthony Fauci says it's “really too early to say” whether Americans can expect new lockdowns or mandates to combat omicron variant.
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) November 28, 2021
“We just really need to, as I've said so often, prepare for the worst." https://t.co/E0fMRghHKQ pic.twitter.com/T3uk9MKsC1