Covid new strain symptoms: Four ‘more common’ signs of coronavirus new variant infection
Boris Johnson announces UK surpasses 100,000 Covid deaths
Covid has killed more than 100,000 people in the UK since the start of the pandemic, and the daily death figures are still incredibly high. Analysis has now revealed that patients of the new coronavirus variant may be more likely to develop sore throats, fatigue, muscle pain, and coughs.
The UK is currently in the middle of a third national lockdown, after a sharp rise in Covid cases after Christmas.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered England’s lockdown on January 4, in an address to the nation.
Since then, the daily number of new coronavirus cases has started to fall, although it’s still very high.
It’s now been revealed that there could be subtle differences to the symptoms associated with the new Covid variant.
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Patients reported more coughs, sore throats, fatigue, and muscle pain when infected with the coronavirus variant.
They were also less likely to have a loss of smell or taste, according to the Office for National Statistics survey.
Generally, new variant patients reported more symptoms in total, it also revealed.
The findings come after the Government’s New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) warned that the new strain may be more deadly than the original coronavirus.
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“Mutations in the UK virus variant could influence the symptoms associated with infection,” warned virologist and professor of molecular oncology at the University of Warwick, Professor Lawrence Young.
“This variant is more transmissible and infected individuals appear to have higher virus loads which means they produce more virus.
“This could result in more widespread infection within the body perhaps accounting for more coughs, muscle pain and tiredness. The virus has 23 changes compared to the original Wuhan virus.
“Some of these changes in different parts of the virus could affect the body’s immune response and also influence the range of symptoms associated with infection.”
The new Covid strain was first identified in the south-east of England in December.
Scientists were alerted when Covid cases continued to rise in Kent, despite the country being plunged into the second national lockdown.
It was later revealed that the new strain is up to 70 percent more transmissible than the original coronavirus.
Until now, it was largely believed that the symptoms linked to the new variant were similar to the original strain.
In the UK, you should get tested for coronavirus if you develop any of the three key symptoms.
A high fever, a new, continuous cough, and a loss of smell or taste could all be signs of the infection.
Some patients have also reported a number of other symptoms, including diarrhoea, sore throats, and persistent fatigue.
A number of symptom-free testing sites have been launched in the highest infection areas, in a bid to lower the number of Covid cases.
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