Beware Of Headaches And Colds Associated With COVID-19 Delta Variant

JAKARTA - Headache, sore throat and runny nose are now the most commonly reported symptoms associated with COVID-19 infection in the UK.

Reporting from the BBC, Prof Tim Spector, who carried out the Zoe Covid Symptom study, said that someone who had the Delta variant of COVID-19 could feel like a common cold. Symptoms like these are usually reported in a younger group of people.

But even if they don't feel seriously ill, they can be contagious and cause harm to others. Therefore, it is recommended for anyone to do a COVID-19 test when they feel this.

Common COVID symptoms for patients, based on UK National Health Service or NHS data:

1. Cough

2. Fever

3. Loss of smell or taste

But Prof Spector, these symptoms are now less common, when viewed from the data Zoe's team received from thousands of people who had logged their symptoms on an app.

"Since early May, we've seen the top symptoms in app users - and they're not the same as before," he said.

The change in symptoms is linked to an increase in cases of the Delta variant in the UK, which was first identified in India and now accounts for 90 per cent of COVID cases in the UK.

Prof Spector said fever remained fairly common but loss of smell was no longer present in the top 10 symptoms.

He said the Delta variant seems to work a little differently because it is more similar to the common cold, especially when exposed to young people.

"It may just feel like a cold or a funny 'bad' feeling - but stay home and get tested," Prof Spector said.

Meanwhile, as reported by Sky News, Prof Spector said from the latest data the symptoms of COVID-19 include headaches, runny nose, and sore throat.

Headaches topped the list of the most common symptoms, with 60 percent of people who tested positive for them. Then, the runny nose and sore throat and sneezing is now at number four, although it is often confused with fever.

A persistent cough was the only original "classic" symptom to make the top five, with the other two - fever and loss of sense of smell and taste - coming in at number seven and nine, respectively.

"It is time for the government, after a year and a half, to change the list of classic symptoms," he said.

"We do need a much broader flexible approach to this as viruses change and populations change."

In the June 16 update, Prof Spector also warned that the current wave of coronavirus infections "will peak around 10 to 14 days".

He said: "We're still seeing numbers rising, around 15,000 cases per day is our estimate based on your reports but the good news is it's not going up that fast.

"I would predict that it will peak around 10 to 14 days and then start to drop, so that in four weeks we are well below our current level, and at something much more manageable.

"That is if everything goes well," he added.