A leading Covid expert in the UK has revealed a sign in your nails that may indicate you have already contracted the virus.
Professor Tim Spector, who leads the Zoe Symptom Study app, said people who have a "clear line" on their nails may have had the virus, reports The Mirror.
The line is harmless but appears in nails when sickness has affected the growth and they begin to recover.
Posting a photo on Twitter, he wrote: "Do your nails look odd? Covid nails are increasingly being recognised as the nails recover after infection and the growth recovers leaving a clear line.
"Can occur without skin rashes and appears harmless."
Some social media users shared that they had noticed a similar line in their nails, with one person confirming their nails had grown misshapen after becoming infected with Covid.
One wrote: "I developed these as well as my nails now growing misshapen since having Covid in early Dec. Never considered that could have been the cause good to know I haven’t imagined this!"
The grooves - known as Beau's lines - are commonly seen in patients who had a viral infection and will typically grow out over time.
Dr Tanya Bleiker, president of the British Association of Dermatologists, said: “Dermatologists are seeing 'Covid Nails' in some patients who have had an infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for Covid 19.
“These changes have long been recognised as 'Beau's lines' and are transverse indents in the nail of many, or all, fingernails and sometimes toenails.
“They are caused by a temporary interruption of the growth of the nail due to a number of causes including febrile illnesses such as Covid-19 infection."
According to the NHS, the main symptoms remain a high temperature, a new, continuous cough and a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste.
However, studies have also thrown up less common symptoms potentially linked to the virus, including chills, a loss of appetite and muscle ache.
In January, Professor Spector tweeted: "One in five people with Covid still present with less common symptoms that don't get on the official PHE [Public Health England] list."
