Q. What are the symptoms of the omicron variant?
A. Fatigue and high pulse are among "unusual" symptoms spotted by Dr Angelique Coetzee, who had patients with muscle aches, "scratchy throat" and dry cough. A few had a high temperature. She first saw the variant in a man in his early thirties with tiredness and a mild headache, but none of the usual symptoms such as a loss of taste or smell, a high temperature and continuous cough.
Q. How is this different to previous variants?
A. Those who contract the dominant delta variant report headaches, a sore throat and a runny nose - also classic symptoms of the common cold. According to the Zoe tracker app, run by King's College London scientists, the most common symptom is a moderate to severe "pulsing" headache lasting three to five days, which painkillers do not help. Even at this early stage, omicron appears to be associated with milder headaches.
Q. How will I know if I have been exposed to the variant?
A. All contacts of new variant cases will be told to isolate, regardless of whether they are fully vaccinated. In August, the Government scrapped the requirement to isolate after contact with a Covid case if you had taken both jabs. The UK Health Security Agency is carrying out targeted testing at locations where confirmed omicron cases were likely to have been infectious.