Ireland has now passed the peak Covid-19 summer wave, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said this week as Covid hospital numbers have started to fall.
However, the disease is still rampant, with more people catching Covid-19 than the common cold. And there are two specific symptoms that you need to look out for.
Professor Tim Spector, ZOE Scientific Co-Founder and lead scientist on the ZOE Health Study, has now highlighted two symptoms which may be more noticeable when you wake that you can "best assume" is Covid, reports The Express.
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He says there are two main symptoms which are becoming evident from the Zoe study, which has been collecting data throughout the pandemic.
In a twitter post he pointed out those with Covid are more likely to report fatigue - and if you wake up after a good night's sleep but still feel tired then that might point to Covid.
Likewise, a sore throat is more commonly reported in people with Covid than a regular common cold, noted Prof Spector. If you spot the above symptoms, "assume" it's Covid, he wrote.
Top Irish Covid expert Professor Luke O’Neill recently spoke about the summer wave of Covid, saying there is a new symptom that people should look out for.
"One extra symptom for BA.5 I saw this morning is night sweats," he said.
"The disease is slightly different because the virus has changed. There is some immunity to it, with the T cells and so on, and that mix of your immune system and the virus being slightly different might give rise to a slightly different disease - with strangely enough - night sweats being a feature.”
The most common symptoms of Covid are:
- fever (high temperature - 38 degrees Celsius or above) - including having chills
- dry cough
- fatigue (tiredness)
Less common symptoms of Covid include:
- loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this could mean they're completely gone or just different from normal
- nasal congestion (runny or blocked nose)
- conjunctivitis (also known as red-eye or pink eye)
- sore throat
- headache
- muscle or joint pain (aches and pains)
- different types of skin rash
- nausea or vomiting
- diarrhoea
- chills or dizziness
Read next:
- Uptake for Covid-19 vaccine for children highest in Dublin
Covid-19 Ireland: Nine symptoms fully vaccinated people need to look out for
- New Covid-19 variant: Expert warns to expect new wave every few months
Health experts warn of another Covid wave as hospitals under pressure
Compulsory mask wearing may return later this year as 'precautionary move'
