Covid symptoms to lookout for as new variant sparks fears of return of mask-wearing

MIRROR

As scientists warn a new variant of Covid-19 is on the rise across the world, sparking some to call on people to return to wearing masks, some of the symptoms people need to look out for won’t come as a surprise to many.

Although the number of common symptoms have been updated since the pandemic began, there are a few stalwarts which remain. According to the NHS a high temperature or uncontrollable shivering, a new, continuous cough and a loss of smell or taste are the key things to look out for. But the government also has shortness of breath, feeling tired or exhausted, an aching body, a headache, a sore throat, a blocked or runny nose, loss of appetite, diarrhoea and feeling sick or being sick as symptoms that might hit.

The latest data showed that Eris, a subvariant of Omicron, now accounts for 1 in 10 Covid cases – while the number of people recorded with the virus jumped from an estimated 3.3 per 100,000 to 7.2 in the space of less than a month.

But the new sub-strain, which has not yet been formally named but is referred to as ‘BA.6’, has led some to fear that a bleak coronavirus picture could emerge in the weeks ahead. While it has only been found in two countries so far, Denmark and Israel, one expert has claimed the new sub-strain is already showing an alarming tendency to mutate – and alleges it has left a number of her peers concerned.

Warning that people should start wearing facemasks to stop the spread, Dr Trisha Greenhalgh, a primary healthcare expert at the University of Oxford, wrote on Twitter : “My various science WhatsApp groups are buzzing. Genetic lineage clips and diagrams flying back and forth. I understand little of the detail but it looks like it’s once again time to MASK UP.”

Professor Christina Pagel, a mathematician from University College London who is a sitting member on the Independent SAGE group, meanwhile said on the social media platform that it was “very very early days” but conceded that the variant has a “LOT of new mutations that makes it v different to previous Omicron strains”. She added that this meant it was “potentially more able to cause a big wave”.

THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN MIRROR