The main symptom for Covid now is having a sore throat, Tim Spector, co-founder of the Zoe Health Study app, told Times radio.
Last week Covid cases increased by 25% in just seven days, according to the latest official estimates.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) released data that highlighted 1,327,900 people in the UK caught the virus in the end of the week of September 26 – the highest UK number of infections since the week of August 16.
Covid cases have been soaring since the start of the September with the predicated autumn wave still to peak. Professor Spector has urged people to remember that “Covid is not over,” warning we’ll see even higher numbers next month.
Many of us are failing to identify we have coronavirus despite high case numbers, due to “using government guidelines which are wrong,” the public health expert said.
Prof Spector told the Independent: “At the moment, Covid starts in two-thirds of people with a sore throat. Fever and loss of smell are really rare now – so many people may not think they’ve got Covid – they’d say it’s a cold and not be tested.”
Though cases have increased in England and Northern Ireland, the trend in Scotland and Wales is seen as “uncertain” by the ONS.
So what does a Covid sore throat feel like? It feels very similar to a sore throat you’d get when you have a cold. But with a Covid, you’re more likely to experience pain, scratchiness and thickness in the throat, particularly when you’re swallowing something.
Covid sore throats often feel worse on the first day of infection but the pain will decrease day by day. The sore throat usually lasts no more than five days and if it persists past five days you should consider getting tested for another illness.
Other symptoms of Covid include:
- Fever
- Chills
- Coughing
- Fatigue
- Muscle or body caches
- New loss of taste or smell
- Shortness of breath
- Difficulty breathing
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Lost of appetite
If you’re feeling poorly, make sure you take a a test. “If you have symptoms of a respiratory infection, such as Covid-19, and you have a high temperature or do not feel well enough to go to work or carry out normal activities, try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people, until you no longer have a high temperature (if you had one) or until you no longer feel unwell,” UK government guidance states.