A runny nose is now the most common symptom of Covid (and only a fifth of patients lose taste or smell)
Data shows a runny nose is now the most common symptom of Covid.
More than 80 percent of Britons suffer from sniffles if infected with the pandemic-causing virus.
Only a fifth of patients lose taste or smell – one of the original signs that Britons were warned about when the virus arrived on the scene in early 2020.
Meanwhile, fever, another of the classic symptoms of Covid, affects only a quarter of people who become infected.
ONS data on Covid infections shows that more than 80 per cent of Britons suffer from a runny nose when infected. A loss of taste or smell – one of the original signs of the virus – accounts for just under a fifth of all recorded symptoms
More than 80 percent of British people suffer from a runny nose if they are infected with the virus. Yet loss of taste or smell – one of the original signs – accounts for just under a fifth of all recorded symptoms.
Symptoms were tracked based on self-reported data from almost 430,000 Britons.
Covid has evolved over time to become less deadly.
Immunity levels built up through vaccine rollouts and previous waves remain high, allowing society to treat the flu in a similar way to the flu without the need for pandemic-era restrictions.
Experts have long said that Covid is ‘on its way’ to becoming seasonal and eventually just another cause of the common cold.
Other coronaviruses known to infect humans typically cause mild symptoms.
However, health officials are still advising people with respiratory symptoms to limit their contact with vulnerable groups, such as the elderly, pregnant women and those with underlying conditions, amid fears they could become seriously unwell if infected.
Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) released today shows that almost three quarters of Covid patients who test positive are coughing (73.8 per cent), making it the second most commonly reported symptom.
Coughing was one of three hallmark Covid symptoms listed by health chiefs during the darkest days of the pandemic.
Fatigue, muscle pain, sore throat and headache were other common symptoms.
According to data released today by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), coughing (73.8 percent) and fatigue (65.2 percent) are among the other major symptoms reported. Muscle pain, sore throat and headache were three other commonly reported symptoms. A loss of taste and smell accounted for 18.8 and 18.4 percent of cases, respectively
Until 2022, British officials accepted only three symptoms as signs of the virus, despite other countries and health authorities having as many as 14.
But as new variants emerged, the official list of symptoms grew to include symptoms such as anxiety, memory loss and stomach pain.
Self-reported ONS data also shows that just under 2 million Britons are affected by the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
The poorly understood condition involves Covid-induced symptoms that persist for more than four weeks after the initial illness has resolved.
Separate data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) shows that 1,196 patients tested positive in the week ending April 10, a three percent decrease on the previous week.
The latest figures for the week ending March 29 also show that 1,164 Britons were admitted to hospital with the virus, up seven per cent on a week earlier.
However, the cases reflect only a fraction of the actual toll.
Officials are no longer monitoring the prevalence of the virus in the same way as before, as part of the government’s ushering in of pre-Covid normalities.
Britons are also no longer testing en masse as they did earlier during the pandemic.