Omicron: How long does your incubation period last and what differences do you have with Delta and other covid variants?Register for Free to Continue Reading

The Covid-19 omicron variant extended all over the world at a fast pace since it was discovered in southern Africa last month, but there are still many things that we do not know about it.

More data is needed to determine their precise characteristics and how it responds to existing vaccines against the coronavirus, but what seems evident is that it is more transmissible than any of the variants that we have discovered in the course of the pandemic so far, including Alfa anddelta.

Omicron has been detected in at least 89 countries to date, and some as Netherlands, Germany and South Korea have once again imposed confinement measures to stop their propagation.

According to the United Kingdom Health Security Agency, this country has registered 14 deaths from the new variant and more than 60.000 cases confirmed at the time of writing this article, while the total cases of COVID-19 have increased more than double and reached a historical maximum of 93.045 on Friday, December 17.

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Something that has been clear in recent weeks are the differences between the omicron variant and the original COVID-19.

Although the World Health Organization estimated that the symptoms take between two days and two weeks to present in cases of infections with the first strain of the Coronavirus, it is believed that the omicron variant is incubated much faster, since it takes between three and five days.

"A recent analysis by the United Kingdom Health Security Agency suggests that the period between infection and the ability to infect could be shorter in the omicron variant than in the Delta," the secretary of the Secretary ofUnited Kingdom Health, Sajid Javid.

That would explain why it has spread so quickly and successfully, since the brevity of its incubation period gives patients less time between the suspicion that they have contracted the virus and the first outbreak.This is why it is less likely that a test will be done that throws a positive result to warn others, to enter confinement and to prevent the disease from continuing to spread.

A shorter incubation period "makes a virus a lot, much, much more difficult to control," he warned the Atlantic Jennifer Nuzzo, epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Health Safety Center.

Another omicron aspect that potentially further hinders its detection than with other variants is that their symptoms are somewhat different from the three main indicators that we have learned to look for: cough, fever and the loss of sense of taste or smell.

The first warning signals of the new variant, on the contrary, include throat irritation, back pain, runoff or nasal congestion, headache, muscle pains and fatigue, sneezing and nocturnal sweating.

The current evidence of the cases of omicron analyzed in Britain indicates that patients recover in an average of between five days and one week, although some of the symptoms such as cough and fatigue can persist more time.

In more serious cases, difficulty breathing has also been reported, which has lasted up to 13 days.

In general, it is believed that people suffering from COVID-19 are infectious for others from two days before the first symptoms and up to 10 days after these, approximately.

If you think you have symptoms of omicron or the Delta variant, which is still the dominant one, the current recommendation of the NHS (National Health Service) is that you do a PCR test as soon as possible and you are beaten at home to protect the the rest.

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Our best hope against a collective omicron is the reinforcement dose, which will be available for all adults in the United Kingdom at the end of December.Studies have shown that three doses are more likely, instead of two, they offer a greater degree of immunity against the new variant.

But, as Javid told Andrew Mar de la BBC on Sunday, "there are no guarantees in this pandemic", so it is also recommended to the public that respects current restrictions, including the use of covers in public spaces, not attendingunnecessary social commitments during the days before Christmas and extreme precautions.