The Omicron variant may cause different symptoms than earlier strains, health chiefs have warned.
In light of the differences, scientists are racing to identify if the new variant, first discovered in southern Africa, spreads faster, dodges vaccines or causes worse side effects than the strains we have seen before.
People are presenting cold-like symptoms since receiving the vaccine, says experts, with data from the ZOE Covid symptom study app, showing that people who test positive most commonly report a headache, runny nose, sore throat and sneezing.
Chair of the South African Medical Association, Dr Angelique Coetzee, said the main symptoms of the Omicron variant to look out for are fatigue, body ache, headache
She also described one very interesting case of a six-year-old girl who had a temperature and a very high pulse rate
A World Health Organization (WHO) official has told the Reuters news agency that most people are not getting seriously ill, although it could still be the case.
A top WHO adviser, Dr Maria Van Kerkhove said, In terms of the severity profile, there have seen reports of cases with Omicron that go from mild disease all the way to severe disease.
“There is some indication that some of the patients are presenting with mild disease, but again it is early days, we do have a surveillance bias right now in terms of the cases that are being detected.
“There is also a suggestion of increased hospitalizations across South Africa, but that could be the sheer fact that we have more cases,” said Kerkhove.
Meanwhile, a health director in Botswana said 16 out of 19 people infected had no symptoms, while the other three had very, very mild illness.
It comes as nine more cases of the omicron were discovered in England taking the total across the country to 22.
