Three Things I Learned From Catching Omicron

Even Though It’s Less Severe, It Still Sucks

We’ve all seen, heard, or read reports about how mild Omicron is compared to other COVID variants. It has seemingly been less severe, and as a result less deadly than Delta specifically despite its highly contagious nature. What those reports don’t mention, however, is the fact that even though Omicron is milder, catching it still sucks. For me, my illness progressed rapidly. In mere hours I’d gone from an extremely itchy, dry throat to nursing full-blown fever, and the steady onset of new symptoms right after. I could hardly even stand up. Omicron was getting ready to completely disrupt my life.

I was expecting something similar to what I’d been reading about (a pesky cough, a runny nose, and a low-grade fever), but instead I was confined to my bedroom with a high fever, chills, sore throat, and the headache to rule all headaches. It was anything but mild initially, as those same symptoms continued to rock my entire household for three straight days. On the fourth day, I began to feel a little bit of relief, as the only things I continued to battle were a fever, and a brand new symptom: a dry, intense, non-productive cough. Those two seem hell-bent on hanging on even as I sit here typing this, currently on my 7th day of isolation.

So yes, while Omicron definitely appears to be less intense in terms of severity, it very much still sucks.