The top 5 Omicron symptoms to be aware of

When the pandemic started, COVID-19 came with a long list of potential symptoms ranging from fever to an upset stomach to a loss of smell and taste. Infection with the Omicron variant seems to start with similar symptoms to that of a common cold, perhaps in part because it seems to cause infection more in the upper respiratory tract rather than lower respiratory tract (i.e., the lungs).

The first reports of Omicron from South Africa included lower back pain as a symptom and reports from other countries include myalgia or muscle ache too.

Symptoms also seem to start earlier – around three days after infection rather than five days or so with the Delta variant. Although Omicron seems to kill a smaller proportion of people infected than Delta, the World Health Organization warns that it is still hospitalising and killing people and is also more contagious. This means we still need to be vigilant to minimise the death and disruption caused by the pandemic.

Runny nose

According to Prof Tim Spector, the researcher behind the ZOE COVID Symptom Study app, which collects daily data on people’s symptoms, infection and vaccination status, this is one of the most common symptoms being seen now. In December, UK researchers warned that people with a cold in the UK should assume it’s COVID-19 as around half of all infections in the UK at that time were likely to be.

Sore throat/cough

A cough has been a defining symptom of COVID-19 since the start and so it remains, but now people seem to be equally or sometimes even more likely to have a sore throat.

Loss of smell or taste is rarer

This was a defining symptom at the start of the pandemic and many people had never experienced this. For some people, especially those suffering from Long Covid, this morphed into parosmia, where once pleasant smells such as shampoo smelt disgusting. With Omicron, it’s much less common and only one in five people report this.

Muscle ache/back pain

The first reports of Omicron from South Africa included lower back pain as a symptom and reports from other countries include myalgia or muscle ache too.

Fatigue/tiredness

This has remained constant since the new coronavirus emerged and is still one of the most common features of COVID-19, which might also help people distinguish it from the common cold.

Since many of these symptoms are common to many viral infections, and the more distinctive loss of smell or taste is less common with Omicron, reliable diagnostic testing remains essential for distinguishing COVID-19 from other types of respiratory infections.