New data from a UK study has shown that the delta variant of COVID-19 presents itself with different symptoms to the original strain.
When COVID-19 first hit us in March 2020, the key symptoms of the virus we were told to look out for were loss of taste and smell, and a bad cough.
Every time you so much as hiccupped in public, people would panic and scramble to get further away from you. Which honestly wasn’t a bad thing because if there’s one societal change I have come to love during the pandemic, it’s social distancing. Stay away, pls.
However, it seems that the latest (and more dangerous) strain of the virus, the delta variant, isn’t presenting itself the same way as its parent. (Thinking of COVID-19 as a toxic mum is sending me, lol).
According to data from the UK’s ZOE COVID Symptom Study app, the delta variant of COVID-19 has different symptoms than other mutations and variations.
As COVID patients in the UK recorded their symptoms, those with the delta variant reported headaches, sore throats and runny noses as the most common symptoms – so basically, the symptoms many people would brush off right now because its winter, and therefore flu season.
People that were vaccinated listed the above and sneezing, but those who weren’t also recorded having fevers. For some people, there was still coughing – but most of the symptoms that we were initially looking out for were actually at the bottom of the list.
“It’s more like a bad cold for the younger population,” scientist and co-founder of the app Tim Spector said.
He warned that people could mistake symptoms of the delta variant as just a mild cold, and stressed that anyone with these symptoms should stay home and get tested, just in case.
“In winter, we’re all used to having a runny nose, a cold. But now, people should all be aware that a runny nose may not be the common cold; it may be COVID,” he said.
“That really changes it a bit because those symptoms are not very dramatic.”
Welp, that’s not great. Especially for someone like me, who is constantly sneezing and having a sore throat because of hay fever and general allergies. I guess this is a reminder not to become complacent – though trust me, being under lockdown has definitely reminded me that COVID is still very much something to be weary of.
