Britain Panicking Too Much Over Variant, Says Top Doctor

The doctor who first described the omicron variant has said that Britain is “panicking unnecessarily”, saying that the cases she has encountered in South Africa are “extremely mild”.

- Emily Atkinson

Speaking to the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show yesterday, Dr Angelique Coetzee, chair of the South African Medical Association, said she had first encountered the variant in a man in his early thirties. She said he was experiencing tiredness and a mild headache, but none of the usual coronavirus symptoms.

She said: “What we are seeing clinically in South Africa, and remember I’m at the epicentre – that’s where I’m practising – it’s extremely mild. For us, that’s mild cases.”

Asked if the UK was “panicking unnecessarily”, she said: “I think you already have it there in your country and you’re not knowing it, and I would say, yes, at this stage I would say definitely. Two weeks from now maybe we will say something different.”

Dr Coetzee’s comments came after it was announced on Saturday that two cases of the omicron variant had been confirmed in England.