On June 30, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention added three symptoms to its COVID-19 list: Congestion/stuffy nose, nausea and diarrhea. Those three new conditions now join other symptoms identified by the CDC: Fever.
Fever or chills. A dry cough and shortness of breath. Feeling very tired. Muscle or body aches.
"One new feature of cases caused by this variant is that it seems to be causing conjunctivitis, or red and itchy eyes, in young patients. This is not something that we've seen with prior strains of the virus," Dr. Binnicker adds. Red itchy eyes in young patients are symptoms of the new omicron variant.
BMJ: “Covid-19: Runny nose, headache, and fatigue are commonest symptoms of omicron, early data show.”
Symptoms of Omicron can be similar to the original COVID-19 virus and other variants, which can include a combination of the following: fever, cough, congestion, runny nose, headache, sore throat, muscle pains/aches and fatigue. “Fever, cough and headache look to be the most common symptoms from the current data.
A person may have mild symptoms for about one week, then worsen rapidly. Let your doctor know if your symptoms quickly worsen over a short period of time.
Symptom onset
The first symptoms of COVID-19 can be more gradual. While COVID-19 symptoms can develop as early as two days after you're infected, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says five days after infection is typical.
You are most infectious (or contagious) in the first 5 days after your symptoms start. You can also spread COVID-19 in the 48 hours before your symptoms start. If you never have symptoms, consider yourself most infectious in the 5 days after you test positive.
The research shows that covid-19 headaches are most similar to either tension headaches or migraines. The symptoms of tension-like headaches include: Moderate or severe pain. Pain on both sides of the head.
What COVID-19 variant are we on? Currently, the dominant variant nationwide is XBB.1.5, with 39.9% of cases, followed by XBB.1.16, with 18.2% of cases, and XBB.1.9.1 with 12.5% of cases.
Both the flu and COVID-19 cause a cough and shortness of breath, but overall, COVID-19 symptoms tend to last longer than the flu. Medical experts say COVID-19 symptoms may last for several weeks if not months. Shortness of breath can also come later with COVID-19 and becomes more severe and long-lasting than the flu.
Because COVID-19 is an illness caused by a virus, a COVID-19 sore throat may look and feel like other viral sore throats. One clue that you have viral pharyngitis is that it is often accompanied by other common symptoms.
Most people with COVID-19 have mild illness and can recover at home. You can treat symptoms with over-the-counter medicines, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil), to help you feel better.
Symptoms of a cold tend to be mild. You may have a runny nose, cough, congestion, and sore throat. But you won't usually have the aches and fever that are common with COVID-19 and flu. Often, you'll feel better in a couple of days.
It can make you feel dull and tired, take away your energy, and eat away at your ability to get things done. Depending on the seriousness of your COVID-19 infection, it may last 2 to 3 weeks. But for some people with a severe infection, the brain fog-like fatigue and pain can linger for weeks or months.
A dry cough is one of the most common coronavirus symptoms, but some people may have a cough with phlegm (thick mucus). It can be difficult to control your cough but there are a few ways to help.
How long do omicron symptoms last? Most people who test positive with any variant of COVID-19 typically experience some symptoms for a couple weeks. People who have long COVID-19 symptoms can experience health problems for four or more weeks after first being infected, according to the CDC.
An antibody test may not show if you have a current infection, because it can take 1 to 3 weeks after the infection for your body to make antibodies.
If your test is positive, you are likely still contagious. You should continue to isolate and wear a mask and wait 24-48 hours to test again. If you test negative on two sequential (back-to-back) tests performed 24-48 hours apart from each other, you can end isolation and stop wearing a mask before day 10.
Most studies found that the length of the period of communicability for Omicron BA. 1 (3 – 5 days PSO) was shorter than for the wild-type strain (3 – 8 days PSO). The range of mean incubation periods for Omicron BA. 1 (2.5 – 4.6 days) and BA.
Your infectiousness is highest 1 day before the start of your symptoms and begins to wane about a week later for most people. The Omicron variant has a shorter incubation period, compared to other variants. For the Omicron variant, the incubation period is 1 to 4 days.
A person with COVID-19 may be contagious 48 hours before starting to experience symptoms. In fact, people without symptoms may be more likely to spread the illness, because they are unlikely to be isolating and may not adopt behaviors designed to prevent spread.