Those feeling under the weather with cold symptoms may in fact be sick with the Omicron Covid-19 variant, according to a professor.
The new strain of the virus is reportedly spreading faster than any previous variant, and many people may have it without realising.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4, professor Tim Spector - who is among the founders of the Covid Zoe app - said that the "majority of symptoms" of Omicron are similar to those seen in a regular cold.
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These include a sore throat, runny nose, sneezing, headaches, and fatigue, as reported by Hull Live.
He said: “We’re seeing doubling in the numbers equivalent to what’s being seen elsewhere, every two-and-a-half days, and that really means numbers are going up.
“If we look at our regional charts we see London accelerating more than we’ve seen it since the very first wave and this now means that Omicron is the predominant variant already.
“We’ll be at 100% very soon, so that’s happened in just a matter of days – that is why so many people are going down with infections.”
Professor Adam Finn, from the University of Bristol and a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), told BBC Breakfast the wave of Omicron was just taking off across the country.
He said: “The wave is coming very fast and in fact alarmingly fast – if anything faster than ever. So it really is a race at the moment.
“The more immunity that we’ve all got the less of a problem this is going to be but I’m afraid it is going to be a serious problem either way.”
He said boosters took effect quickly, adding: “It does come through very fast because you’ve got immunological memory, you’ve seen the antigen before from your previous doses, so the level of protection goes up pretty quick.
“We generally look for the level of protection around two weeks, because that’s probably when you get to pretty much maximum levels, but already at a week your antibody levels will be much higher than they were before you had the booster. So it does get going pretty quick.”
