The delta coronavirus mutation has continued to spread throughout the United Kingdom, and now there is some data about common symptoms connected to it.
What are delta variant symptoms?
The new Zoe COVID Symptom study found that the delta variant, overall, can feel “more like a bad cold” for young people who catch it.
The top symptoms reported with the delta variant in the U.K. include:
- Headache
- Sore throat
- Runny nose
Tim Spector, a professor from King’s College London who led the study, said the common COVID-19 symptoms — such as cough, fever and loss of taste or smell — are less common with the delta variant.
- Since the start of May, we have been looking at the top symptoms in the app users — and they are not the same as they were,” he said, according to BBC News.
- “This variant seems to be working slightly differently,” he said.
Spector said, for example, the loss of smell does not appear to be one of the common symptoms linked with the variant.
- “People might think they’ve just got some sort of seasonal cold and they still go out to parties and they might spread around to six other people,” he said, according to BBC News. “We think this is fueling a lot of the problem.”
What should you do?
Spector had a big message for people worried about the delta variant.
- “The message here is that if you are young, you are going to get milder symptoms anyway,” he said. “It might just feel like a bad cold or some funny ‘off’ feeling — but do stay at home and do get a test.”
Experts have also recommended for people to get fully vaccinated against COVID-19 because the vaccines have proven effective against growing variants, as I wrote for the Deseret News.