Sliding to mild? Nope?omicron BA.2 caused worse COVID symptoms than BA.1

The study authors analyzed symptom reports linked to infections of the ancestral coronavirus strain and variants alpha, delta, omicron BA.1, and omicron BA.2. Compared with other variants, a larger proportion of people infected with BA.2 said their symptoms affected their ability to carry out day-to-day activities "a lot." Nearly 18 percent of BA.2-infected people said they were affected "a lot," compared with 11 percent of people infected with BA.1 and 10.5 percent of people infected with delta (this data was not available from people infected with alpha or the ancestral strain).In a subgroup analysis of 4,800 people who were triple-vaccinated and infected with an omicron variant, the authors found that people with BA.2 were 64 percent more likely than BA.1-infected people to say their symptoms affected their ability to carry out day-to-day activities "a lot." This analysis adjusted for time since the third dose as well as other factors, such as age.Overall, key symptoms of an infection with the ancestral strain, alpha, and delta tended to be a loss or change of taste and smell, but these symptoms were less associated with omicron infections.