London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Sep 12, 2025

Londoners with cold symptoms more likely to have Covid, says expert

Londoners with cold symptoms more likely to have Covid, says expert

Professor behind symptom tracker app says Omicron variant causes headaches, sore throat and runny nose

People who have cold-like symptoms in London are more likely to have Covid than a cold, according to the scientist behind the Zoe coronavirus symptom tracker app.

Prof Tim Spector told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that most of the symptoms of Omicron were the same as those of a common cold, including headaches, sore throat, runny nose, fatigue and sneezing.

Spector urged people with cold symptoms – and not just the classic Covid symptoms – to take a test. “Things like fever, cough and loss of smell are now in the minority of symptoms we are seeing,” he said. “Most people don’t have classic symptoms.”

He added: “In London, where Covid is increasing rapidly, it’s far more likely to be Covid than it is to be a cold. We’re seeing doubling in the numbers equivalent to what’s being seen elsewhere, every two and a half days.”

Omicron is already the dominant Covid variant in London and will soon account for nearly all infections.

Separately, a government science adviser has suggested that panic around the oncoming Omicron wave is unjustified. Speaking in a personal capacity, Prof Robert Dingwall, a government Covid adviser from Nottingham Trent University, told the Daily Telegraph: “The Omicron situation seems to be increasingly absurd. There is obviously a lot of snobbery about South African science and medicine but their top people are as good as any you would find in a more universally developed country. They clearly don’t feel that the elite panic over here is justified, even allowing for the demographic differences in vulnerability – which are probably more than cancelled by the higher vaccination rate.

“My gut feeling is that Omicron is very much like the sort of flu pandemic we planned for – a lot of sickness absence from work in a short period, which will create difficulties for public services and economic activity, but not of such a severity as to be a big problem for the NHS and the funeral business.”

A study looking at 78,000 Omicron cases in South Africa found that the risk of hospitalisation was 29% lower compared with the original Covid-19, and 23% lower than the Delta variant, with vaccines holding up well. Fewer people with Omicron needed intensive care, with just 5% of cases admitted to ICU compared with 22% of Delta patients, the study found.

Dingwall’s comments were at odds with those of the papers’s authors, who warned that South Africa’s experience of Omicron might not be a reliable indicator for how the Omicron outbreak unfolds in other countries. And the head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on Tuesday it would be “wrong for people to consider Omicron as mild”.

Prof Paul Hunter, of the University of East Anglia, said Dingwall’s comments were “going really out on a limb” and it was still too early to say how case numbers would translate into hospitalisations in the UK.

Hunter said he was optimistic that immunity against severe disease would hold up quite well, but added: “A million cases of Omicron a day would be horrendous even if it was just as bad as flu.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
ChatGPT CEO signals policy to alert authorities over suicidal youth after teen’s death
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
Embarrassment for Starmer: He fired the ambassador photographed on Epstein’s 'pedophile island'
Manhunt after 'skilled sniper' shot Charlie Kirk. Footage: Suspect running on rooftop during panic
Effective Protest Results: Nepal’s Prime Minister Resigns as Youth-Led Unrest Shakes the Nation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
King Charles and Prince Harry Share First In-Person Moment in 19 Months
Starmer Establishes Economic ‘Budget Board’ to Centralise Policy and Rebuild Business Trust
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones in Airspace Violation During Ukraine Attack
Brazilian police say ex-President Bolsonaro had planned to flee to Argentina seeking asylum
Trinidad Leader Applauds U.S. Naval Strike and Advocates Forceful Action Against Traffickers
Kim Jong Un Oversees Final Test of New High-Thrust Solid-Fuel Rocket Engine
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Macron Appoints Sébastien Lecornu as Prime Minister Amid Budget Crisis and Political Turmoil
Supreme Court temporarily allows Trump to pause billions in foreign aid
Charlie Sheen says his father, Martin Sheen, turned him in to the police: 'The greatest betrayal possible'
Vatican hosts first Catholic LGBTQ pilgrimage
Apple Unveils iPhone 17 Series, iPhone Air, Apple Watch 11 and More at 'Awe Dropping' Event
Pig Heads Left Outside Multiple Paris Mosques in Outrage-Inducing Acts
Nvidia’s ‘Wow’ Factor Is Fading. The AI chip giant used to beat Wall Street expectations for earnings by a substantial margin. That trajectory is coming down to earth.
France joins Eurozone’s ‘periphery’ as turmoil deepens, say investors
On the Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s Death: Prince Harry Returns to Britain
France Faces New Political Crisis, again, as Prime Minister Bayrou Pushed Out
Murdoch Family Finalises $3.3 Billion Succession Pact, Ensuring Eldest Son’s Leadership
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Court Staff Cover Up Banksy Image of Judge Beating a Protester
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
Elon Musk Poised to Become First Trillionaire Under Ambitious Tesla Pay Plan
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
Burning the Minister’s House Helped Protesters to Win Justice: Prabowo Fires Finance Minister in Wake of Indonesia Protests
Brazil Braces for Fallout from Bolsonaro Trial by corrupted judge
The Country That Got Too Rich? Public Spending Dominates Norway Election
Nearly 40 Years Later: Nike Changes the Legendary Slogan Just Do It
Generations Born After 1939 Unlikely to Reach Age One Hundred, New Study Finds
End to a four-year manhunt in New Zealand: the father who abducted his children to the forests was killed, the three siblings were found
Germany Suspends Debt Rules, Funnels €500 Billion Toward Military and Proxy War Strategy
EU Prepares for War
BMW Eyes Growth in China with New All‑Electric Neue Klasse Lineup
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
×