Omicron: Pink Eye Among Covid-19 Symptoms To Look Out For

With the Omicron variant spreading rapidly, it’s important to know what Covid-19 symptoms to look out for.

Coronavirus cases in the UK are surging to record breaking levels, with Thursday’s total of 189,213 new cases reported the highest daily total Britain has seen during the pandemic.

The actual number of people who caught Covid is likely to be much higher, as not everyone who catches the virus is able to be tested and some people do not display strong enough symptoms to realise they have it.

As the Omicron variant becomes the dominant strain of the virus in the UK and our understanding of Covid develops, we are getting better at knowing what to look out for and what to expect when someone catches it.

The most common signs of coronavirus include a persistent cough, loss of taste and smell, breathing difficulties and a fever, though there are some other symptoms people may not be so aware of.

Having a fever is common among those who catch Covid, but this can trigger some hair loss in a process known as telogen effluvium, which is where more hairs enter the ‘shedding’ phase of their cycle than usual.

This process can be brought on by a fever, so if someone who catches Covid suffers from a fever as one of the symptoms, then they also run the risk of losing hair.

Fortunately, this hair loss is only temporary, so the results of excess shedding should grow back given enough time.

Another unusual symptom of getting Covid is pink eye, otherwise known as conjunctivitis, because the virus is thought to get into your body through receptors for the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2).

The virus gets in by tricking the receptors into thinking it’s the ACE2 enzyme, and these receptors are found in different parts of the human eye.

Having these symptoms by themselves does not necessarily mean you’ve caught Covid, but if you think you have the virus then you should take a lateral flow test and see what the results are.