How Omicron differs from other Covid waves
Thailand has entered its fifth wave of Covid-19, with highly contagious Omicron replacing Delta as the dominant strain. The Omicron subvariant is now estimated to account for around 95 per cent of new cases, with Delta accounting for the rest.
Officially, the infection rate has now climbed above 20,000 new cases per day but these figures are thought to be a fraction of the true caseload.
The good news is that the bed occupancy rate has not reached the critical levels seen during last year's Delta outbreak, thanks to a higher vaccination rate plus milder symptoms generated by Omicron.
Let’s take a look at the symptoms of each variant.
Omicron:
- Sore throat
- Muscle aches
- Fatigue
- Dry cough
- Night sweats
Spread from outbreak in pub-restaurants
Delta:
- Similar to cold
- Rarely loss of taste
- Runny nose
- Sore throat
- Headache
Spread from worker camps
Alpha:
- Fever
- Runny nose
- Vomit
- Diarrhoea
- Aches and pains
- Cough and sore throat
- Headache
- Chills
- Abnormal taste and smell
Spread from entertainment venues in Thong Lo
Beta:
- Sore throat
- Aches and pains
- Headache
- Diarrhoea
- Red eyes
- Skin rash
- Discolouration of fingers or toes
- Abnormal taste and smell
Spread from Samut Sakhon's Central Shrimp Market
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