Headache, fatigue, sleepiness, thirst … At Christmas and after a night of drinking, anyone would think that it is a horrible hangover, but omicron is already here and that general malaise could be something more.

The new variant of the coronavirus is the end of the year gift that nobody wants to receive. Its rapid spread around the world has raised the concern of the World Health Organization (WHO), which has already recommended canceling the holidays to “celebrate life tomorrow.”

However, winter always leads to coexistence. And in case the celebration happens in a big way, the best thing is to learn to distinguish the symptoms of a hangover from those of COVID-19.

Dr. Adam Caputa, London GP, makes a straightforward suggestion: “If rest and a takeaway and lying on the sofa improve your symptoms, it’s probably not Omicron.” 

For him, there are no hangovers of more than 24 hours.

So, if symptoms persist, or even worsen- it is best to undergo a PCR test to rule out infection, the doctor told The Sun.

Symptoms of the omicron variant “appear to be more varied and potentially subtle than Delta” and may “in the early stages, mimic hangover symptoms.”

“Listen to your body and think, ‘Does this feel like a hangover I’ve had before?’,” Caputa recommends.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned about the risks of consuming alcohol, since it, it said, weakens the immune system of people and increases the risk of contracting the virus.

Adam Caputa assures that the symptoms of the omicron variant could appear more quickly, so it is possible that, if someone goes out at night to celebrate, the next day the symptoms of the disease begin to develop.

“[A hangover] could initially exacerbate or make symptoms worse, just as a double effect with the virus.”

Image Credit: Getty

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