Coronavirus is constantly mutating. Owing to this, new variants are emerging every few months. As per World Health Organisation (WHO), over 500 subvariants of the Omicron are currently circulating across the world. And the latest in the block are XBB.15 and BF.7. Now, the concerning fact is that along with the emergence of the new variants, the symptoms related to the disease have also changed significantly. So, it has become extremely difficult to identify whether you have contracted the virus relying on so-called ‘classic’ Covid symptoms. Here are the top three symptoms people with Covid are complaining now.

The top 3 COVID symptoms:

Sore throat: Currently, it is the most common symptom of COVID and also, the earliest sign to identify that you have contracted the virus.

How does it feel?

Usually, the symptom starts affecting the first week itself. The patients complain of feeling discomfort, pain, or scratchiness in their throats. It can also lead to difficulty in swallowing your food. But, the discomfort tends to improve each following day.

Runny nose: This is also a very common sign nowadays with many patients complaining of the same.

ZOE covid app, which has been tracking COVID symptoms from the beginning, said, “Our data shows that when rates of COVID-19 are high, the chances that a runny nose is due to coronavirus infection is high."

How does it feel?

Patients might experience free discharge of thin mucus from their nose.

Blocked nose: Apart from a runny nose, many also experience congestion or blocked nose.

How does it feel?

Nasal congestion is caused when blood vessels in your nose become swollen with excess fluid. This stuffy feeling in the nose can occur with or without discharge.

What are the other common symptoms?

Apart from these three symptoms, patients are also complaining of sneezing, cough without phlegm, headache, cough with phlegm, hoarse voice, muscle aches and pains.

What is significant here is how the COVID symptoms have changed significantly over time. The loss of taste and smell, high fever and fatigue that were once recognised as the classic symptoms of the infection is no longer the top COVID signs.

Top symptoms for XBB.15 and BF.7

Since both XBB.15 and BF.7 are sub-variants of Omicron, the symptoms related to them are more or less similar to the previous strains. Till now, no symptoms have been reported that can be said as specific to these variants