A new coronavirus variant, known as Deltacron, a mixture of the Omicron and Delta variants, has appeared in South Africa and experts have warned that it might drive the fifth wave of infections.
In a recent television interview, medical expert Dr Vivek Solanki said the Deltacron variant was expected to be highly contagious but not necessarily deadly.
According to Dr Etienne Simon-Loriere, a virologist at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, the body would often recognise the Deltacron variant as the Omicron variant.
As such, COVID-19 symptoms from Deltacron might resemble the omicron variant (the dominant variant driving current infections). The top symptoms to watch out for are:
- Fatigue
- Runny nose
- Headache
- Sore throat
- Sneezing
- Chills or shivers
- Fever
- Persistent cough
- Hoarse voice or sore throat
- Brain fog
- Dizziness
- Chest pain
- Muscle pains
- Loss of smell
While the number of daily COVID-19 tests in Zimbabwe have been low compared to other countries, the test positivity rate has been declining, with Health Ministry recording a positivity rate of 4.4 per cent on Monday.