South African Doctor Who Discovered Omicron Variant Blasts Media For 'Hype'

While the mainstream U.S. media spent the weekend spreading extreme fear over the Omicron COVID variant discovered in South Africa, the doctor who first noticed the variant spent Sunday describing the symptoms associated with the variant as "extremely mild."

In a Sunday interview with BBC, Dr. Angelique Coetzee, chair of the South African Medical Association, said this Omicron variant popped up November 18 when she started seeing patients with "unusual symptoms" that raised red flags.

“It actually started with a male patient who’s around the age of 33 ... and he said to me that he’s just extremely tired for the past few days and he’s got these body aches and pains with a bit of a headache,” Coetzee told the BBC.

In an interview with Reuters, Coetzee told the news agency that symptoms were "very mild" and that they could be treated at home.

"Looking at the mildness of the symptoms, there is no reason for panicking, as we don't see severely ill patients," the doctor added.

"The hype that's been created out there in the media and worldwide doesn't correlate with the clinical picture."

And now we have a situation where many countries have banned air travel to and from South Africa over the variant with "extremely mild" symptoms that can be treated at home. The U.S. government has banned entry for "most travelers" from eight south African countries and there's a possibility of more countries being added to Biden's banned list.

“What we are seeing clinically in South Africa — and remember I’m at the epicenter of this where I’m practicing — is extremely mild, for us mild cases. We haven’t admitted anyone, I’ve spoken to other colleagues of mine and they give the same picture,” Coetzee told the BBC.

Dr. Anthony Fauci spent Sunday on the morning talk shows working U.S. citizens into a frenzy.

“This is a clarion call … If you’re not vaccinated, get vaccinated. If you’re fully vaccinated, get boosted. Get the children vaccinated also. We now have time. Thank goodness that the South Africans … were completely transparent,” he said on Meet the Press.

And here are the headlines from CNN & the other usual suspects: