Brit have been warned of a new Covid symptom appearing amid a fresh wave of cases spreading across the UK.

Covid experts are reporting a new dominant symptom which appears to be more common than the loss of taste or smell.

Two-thirds of all people suffering from Covid are now reporting a sore throat. Professor Tim Spector, co-founder of the Covid Symptom Study app told The Independent: “It looks like we’re in the start of the next wave and this time it’s affected older people slightly earlier than the last wave. Many people are still using the government guidelines about symptoms which are wrong.

"At the moment, covid starts in two-thirds of people with a sore throat. Fever and loss of smell are really rare now – so many old people may not think they’ve got covid. They’d say it’s a cold and not be tested.”

He added: With rates on the rise, especially in the vulnerable elderly age groups, the impact on hospitalisations could be higher. However, the youngest age group are showing possible early signs of case numbers slowing. Children tend to be a leader of infection trends, so if this continues next week it is possible that the Covid wave might not be as bad as previously predicted."

UK Covid cases on the rise

Impartial Reporter: People testing positive for Covid-19 in private households in the UK. People testing positive for Covid-19 in private households in the UK. (Image: pa)

It comes after new figure last week showed Covid-19 infections in England and Wales are continuing to increase.

The rise means the total number of infections in the UK has also gone up, though the trend in Scotland and Northern Ireland is unclear.

Some 1.1 million people in private households across the UK are likely to have tested positive for coronavirus in the latest survey, which covers the seven days to September 17 in England and the week to September 20 in the other three nations, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

It is the first time the UK-wide total has been above one million since late August, though it is still some way below the 3.8 million weekly infections in early July at the peak of the wave caused by the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of the virus.

The figures come as the number of people in hospital with Covid-19 is also continuing to rise.