People who have Omicron are more likely to have a sore throat and less likely to lose their smell compared to Delta, a new study has found. The research indicates people are also less likely to be admitted to hospital with the current dominant variant and that symptoms do not last as long in those who have been vaccinated than with Delta (6.87 days versus 8.89 days).
The findings support previous studies that suggest the incubation time and period of infectiousness for Omicron is shorter than for previous coronavirus variants. According to the research, the biggest difference was in the loss of sense of smell, which appeared in 52.7% of Delta cases, and showed up in less than 20% of Omicron cases.
The two Covid-19 symptoms that were consistently more prevalent in both variants – regardless of vaccination status – were a sore throat and hoarse voice. Researchers also found that some of the more debilitating symptoms, such as brain fog, eye burning, dizziness, fever and headaches were significantly less prevalent in Omicron cases.
