Covid case numbers have surged by almost a third in a week as new data has revealed the most common symptom seen in patients.
Cases have climbed consistently since the Jubilee celebrations and 2.3 million people had the virus in the last week of June.
Now a report from Covid analysis app ZOE shows a headache has become the most reported symptom .
ONS data show in summer 2020 below 0.1% of the population in England were testing positive while in 2021 it was 1.57%. Now it is 3.35%.
At the end of June there were 8,928 people in hospital with Covid in England, up from 6,401 the previous week, while intensive care patients was up slightly.
The increase in cases is being driven by the recent BA.4 and BA.5 variants, subvariants of Omicron.
The ZOE Covid Study app is used by volunteers who report on their health and symptoms and whether they have tested positive or not.
The data provided is then analysed by King’s College London researchers who track infections across the UK, as well as identifying who is most at risk and where high-risk areas are.
More than two in three of all Covid patients who used the app reported suffering a headache before returning positive tests.
Some even suffered a headache before breathing difficulties.
The app further explains how this painful symptom is “more common” than the other classic Covid signs.
Prof Tim Spector, who leads the Zoe Health Study app, told The Guardian: “There are definitely a lot of people who got Covid at the start of the year who are getting it again, including some with BA.4/5 who had BA.1/2 just four months ago, who thought they would be protected.”
However, the professor added it is “rare” to be reinfected with Covid within three months.
“Try to stay at home and avoid contact with others if you have tested positive for coronavirus ( Covid-19 ) or have symptoms of Covid-19,” advises the NHS.
The national health body added: “If you have Covid-19, you can pass on the virus to other people for up to 10 days from when your infection starts.
“Many people will no longer be infectious to others after five days.”
