Omicron doctor attacks UK government ‘pressure’

With case rates falling and Omicron (hopefully) in decline, it’s a good time to remember some of the more hysterical predictions about the last Covid variant. For the South African doctor who discovered the Omicron strain has today given an interview to German newspaper Welt in which she reveals she was ‘pressured’ into describing the variant as more dangerous than it really is.

Dr Angelique Coetzee was one of the first to report the new variant in November last year and said it caused ‘mild’ symptoms for those in her country. But she claims she was told by scientists and politicians from around the globe that her description was wrong – and specifically references Britain as being one of those countries which tried to discourage her findings. Discussing the response of Western countries to the variant, she replied: 

They definitely overreacted. When we tried to argue that it was a mild disease, because of the number of mutations, everyone said that wasn’t true.