The chief executive of a top hospital system in South Africa, where the Omicron COVID-19 variant emerged in November, said most patients at hospitals in Gauteng are showing milder symptoms than during previous waves. Netcare CEO Richard Friedland said most COVID-19 Omicron patients in Gauteng don’t need oxygen, noting that’s a change from previous outbreaks. “While we fully recognize that it is still early days, if this trend continues, it would appear that with a few exceptions of those requiring tertiary care, the fourth wave can be adequately treated at a primary care level,” Friedland said, according to broadcaster News24. Of the 337 COVID-19-positive patients admitted to Netcare hospitals, about “10 percent are on some form of oxygenation versus 100 percent in the first three waves,” the Netcare CEO stated. Despite reports of milder cases, Friedland said that South Africans should get vaccinated and wear masks. Previously, he suggested the latest variant “may signal the end …