People are being told to assume they have Covid if they begin suffering from two specific symptoms.
Professor Tim Spector, co-founder of the Covid ZOE app, the symptom reporting platform, has revealed there are twice as many Covid cases at the moment as there are common colds, saying “the ratio has never been so high”. He urged people to still use Covid testing if possible, and to stay away from others if they feel unwell. You can get the latest WalesOnline newsletters e-mailed to you directly for free by signing up here.
On the predominant signs of Covid, he said: “Symptoms much the same except generally more fatigue and sore throat - so best to assume it’s Covid! Hopefully, this wave will be over soon. Try to get tested if you can. If you can’t get tested, assume you’ve got a cold and stay away from other people until you feel better.”
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Last week Professor Spector said the UK was at the start of a new wave of Covid infections, with the predominant symptom being a sore throat, more so than previous symptoms seen in other waves. He told the Independent: “It looks like we’re in the start of the next wave and this time it’s affected older people slightly earlier than the last wave.
"Many people are still using the government guidelines about symptoms which are wrong. At the moment, Covid starts in two-thirds of people with a sore throat. Fever and loss of smell are really rare now – so many old people may not think they’ve got Covid. They’d say it’s a cold and not be tested.”
Last week it was reported that the number of people in hospital with Covid in Wales was on the increase. Data from the Welsh Government showed that 437 patients ‘confirmed’ with the virus were in general, acute and critical care beds on October 4 - double the number in early September and the highest since July 22. However, just 29 (7%) of these people were being actively treated for the virus and were therefore in hospital for other reasons. At the start of the year it was common for 30-40% of Covid hospital patients to be actively treated for the virus.
In terms of the outlook across the UK as a whole, the Office for National Statistics revealed that, for the week ending September 26, around 1 in 50 people in Wales had Covid. England’s rate was up from one in 70 people with Covid a week earlier to one in 50, while Scotland had slightly more infections with one case for every 45 people and Northern Ireland slightly more again with one case for every 40 people. You can read more about that here.
Dr Susan Hopkins, chief medical advisor at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), advised anyone with a cold-like illness to wear a face covering in public. She said: “If you are unwell, it is particularly important to avoid contact with elderly people or those who are more likely to have severe disease because of their ongoing health conditions.”
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