Night Sweats.

Night sweats are commonly associated with conditions like the flu, anxiety, or even cancer. They were much less associated with COVID-19 before the Omicron variant began its spread around the world.

Night sweats are one of a few distinct symptoms that appear to separate Omicron from other COVID variants, along with a sore throat. And unlike Delta and the original COVID-19 strain that first hit the U.S., Omicron does not seem to be associated with a loss of smell and taste. That is how I’ve been able to differentiate it in the office.

This was confirmed by Amir Khan of the UK’s NHS.

Loss of Appetite or Absence of It

The other symptom, or lack of one, is the absence of “Loss of Appetite” which was present with the previous forms of COVID-19. This and night sweats have been confirmed as part of the research done by the ZOE COVID Symptom Study.

People who contributed to the study above reported a loss of appetite as one symptom they experienced. Researchers stated that study participants were confirmed to have had the Omicron variant, suggesting that the loss of appetite symptom is more likely to occur when people have Omicron, rather than the Delta variant.

The ZOE study has been tracking symptoms reported by participants using a smartphone app. They reported that the top five symptoms for Omicron are runny nose, headache, fatigue (mild or severe), sneezing, and sore throat. The data were collected between December 3 and 10 in London.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), which operates much like the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), found that those who contract Omicron are less likely to become severely ill compared to people who get the Delta variant, according to the data, reports Politico.

“More people are likely to have a mild illness with less serious symptoms — probably in part due to Britain’s large number of vaccinated and previously infected people, and possibly because Omicron may be intrinsically milder,” Politico reported.“ The UKHSA’s view after studying cases in Britain is that “Omicron is indeed usually less severe than Delta.”