New COVID-19 symptoms “may be similar to the cold or flu,” health officials in Northern Ireland recently told BBC News.
Driving the news: The UK Health Security Agency recently added nine COVID-19 symptoms to its list.
- The agency added symptoms such as sore throat, muscle pains and diarrhea, as I reported for the Deseret News.
- These COVID-19 symptoms — though they’ve been well known in the United States — were not previously listed on the U.K.’s list of symptoms.
Symptoms: These COVID-19 symptoms “may be similar to the cold or flu,” said North Ireland’s Department of Health.
- The symptoms “may vary for different age groups or different variants of the virus.”
The bigger picture: There’s a chance you may be getting sick from other respiratory illnesses, which may make you feel something similar to COVID-19.
- This is happening as the world has reopened and COVID-19 case numbers have dropped due to natural immunity and vaccines.
- Experts still advise people to stay home when sick and get tested for COVID-19.
What they said: “Even if you don’t have COVID, your symptoms may be caused by another respiratory virus such as rhinovirus which can be easily passed on to others,” Dr. Frances O’Hagan, who works at the British Medical Association, told BBC News.
- “It is therefore advisable to stay at home if you can and reduce contact with others when you have respiratory virus symptoms to avoid spreading infection to others.”