Omicron variant symptoms may be considered “mild” but that doesn’t mean that you’re going to have a mild experience.

The news: Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Wednesday that the decision to label omicron variant symptoms as “mild” is misleading.

• “Importantly, ‘milder’ does not mean ‘mild.’ And, we cannot look past the strain on our health systems and substantial number of deaths — nearing 2,200 a day as a result of the extremely transmissible omicron variant,” she said, per Fox News.

Yes, but: Walensky said the COVID-19 vaccines have decreased the severity of the omicron variant and led to less likeliness of hospitalizations and deaths for many.

Why it matters: Many people see the omicron variant is a mild COVID-19 disease. But that’s not the case. An infection can cause death and hospitalization for many and it should be approached with caution.

What to know: Walensky said people should still wear their face masks and practice proper health guidance to keep others safe from the omicron variant.

Flashback: A number of experts told HuffPost that mild symptoms don’t always mean mild. For example, a mild version of COVID-19 is basically anything that stops short of hospitalization.

• “The big question is whether or not you’re able to recuperate at home,” Carl Lambert Jr., a Chicago-based family physician, told HuffPost.
• “When I talk to patients, I explain that moderate or severe means that you had to go to the hospital and they had to keep you to watch you,” he said.