The main symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19)

are a high temperature, a new, continuous cough and a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste.

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The main symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) are:a high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you’ve noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal.

To help stop the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), avoid close contact with anyone you do not live with and wash your hands regularly.

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To stop coronavirus (COVID-19) spreading:

try to stay at least 2 metres (3 steps) away from anyone you do not live with or anyone not in your support bubblewash your hands with soap and water often –

do this for at least 20 secondsuse hand sanitiser gel if soap and water are not availablewash your hands as soon as you get home

cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when you cough or sneezeput used tissues in the bin immediately and wash your hands afterwards

wear something that covers your nose and mouth when it’s hard to stay away from people, such as in shops or on public transport

do not touch your eyes, nose or mouth if your hands are not clean

Self-care

There are things you can do to treat mild symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) while you’re staying at home (self-isolating).

If you have a high temperature:

get lots of rest drink plenty of fluids (water is best) to avoid dehydration –

drink enough so your pee is light yellow and clear take paracetamol or ibuprofen if you feel uncomfortable

If you have a cough:

avoid lying on your back – lie on your side or sit upright instead

try having a teaspoon of honey – but do not give honey to babies under 12 months

If you feel breathless:

keep your room cool by turning the heating down or opening a window – do not use a fan as it may spread the viruss

it upright in a chair and relax your shoulders try breathing slowly in through your nose and out through your mouth, with your lips together like you’re gently blowing out a candle.

Four tests have to be met, 

“First, the vaccine deployment programme continues successfully.

“Second, that evidence shows vaccines are sufficiently effective in reducing hospitalisations and deaths.

“Third, that infection rates do not risk a surge in hospitalisations, which would put unsustainable pressure on the NHS.

“And fourth, that our assessment of the risks is not fundamentally changed by new variants of COVID that cause concern.

“Before taking each step, we will review the data against these tests.”

Under step 1, all schools in England will reopen to all pupils on 8 March with regular testing of secondary school pupils.

Exercise rules will be relaxed the same day to let individuals meet one other person from a different household outdoors, including for coffee or a picnic.

From 29 March: “People will no longer be legally required to stay at home but many lockdown restrictions will remain.”

Step 2 allows the reopening of non-essential retail, hairdressers, indoor leisure, and gyms from 12 April.

Step 3 begins “no earlier than 17 May” with indoor mixing and the reopening of pubs and restaurants.

Step 4 begins “no earlier than 21 June, with appropriate mitigations, we will aim to remove all legal limits on social contact”.

There will be reviews on international travel restrictions and of “the potential role of COVID status certification in helping venues to open safely”.

POSITIVE VACCINE DATE

First real-world UK data shows Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine provides high levels of protection from the first dose

PHE has today published the first independent analysis in the UK showing the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is effective against COVID-19 from the first dose.

Data analysed by Public Health England (PHE) shows the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine provides high levels of protection against infection and symptomatic disease from the first dose.

Early data from PHE’s SIREN study shows a promising impact on infection in healthcare workers aged under 65. Healthcare workers in the study are tested for coronavirus (COVID-19) every 2 weeks – whether or not they have symptoms.

Data shows one dose reduces the risk of catching infection by more than 70%, rising to 85% after the second dose. This suggests the vaccine may also help to interrupt virus transmission, as you cannot spread the virus if you do not have infection.

PHE’s analysis of routine testing data also shows that one dose is 57% effective against symptomatic COVID-19 disease in those aged over 80. This effect occurs from about 3 to 4 weeks after the first dose.

Early data suggests the second dose in over 80s improves protection against symptomatic disease by a further 30%, to more than 85%.

Hospitalisation and deaths rates are falling in all age groups – but the oldest age groups are seeing the fastest decline since the peak in mid-January.

Early data suggests vaccinated people who go on to become infected are far less likely to die or be hospitalised. Overall, hospitalisation and death from COVID-19 will be reduced by over 75% in those who have received a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

The risk of dying in those aged over 80 is less than half (56%) in vaccinated cases compared to unvaccinated cases, at least 14 days after receiving the first dose.

Those over 80 who develop COVID-19 infection after vaccination are around 40% less likely to be hospitalised than someone with infection who has not been vaccinated.

These high levels of protection are also seen against the variant of concern (B.1.1.7) first identified in South East England in December 2020.

While the data on infection, hospitalisation and death is promising, PHE will continue to observe these trends closely over the coming months to ensure firmer conclusions can be made.

PHE is also monitoring the real-world impact of the AstraZeneca vaccine and will publish these findings in due course – but early signals in the data suggest it’s providing good levels of protection from the first dose.

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Scottish Study

Also released today as a preprint , University of Edinburgh research found that 4 weeks after the first dose, the Pfizer/BioNTech jab reduced the risk of hospitalisation by up to 85%, and the figure was up to 94% for the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.

Combined vaccination results for over-80s saw an 81% reduction in hospitalisation risk.

Lead researcher, Professor Aziz Sheikh, said: “These results are very encouraging and have given us great reasons to be optimistic for the future. We now have national evidence – across an entire country – that vaccination provides protection against COVID-19 hospitalisations. Roll-out of the first vaccine dose now needs to be accelerated globally to help overcome this terrible disease.”

More than two-thirds of 65 to 69-year-olds have now had their first COVID jabs across England.

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Missed Symptoms

Data from King’s College London’s ZOE app suggests that 31% of people who are ill with COVID-19 don’t have any of the classic three symptoms: temperature, cough, anosmia.

The team’s study, published in the Journal of Infection , suggests that  testing people with any of seven key symptoms: cough, fever, anosmia, fatigue, headache, sore throat, and diarrhoea in the first 3 days of illness would have detected 96% of symptomatic cases.

Study lead, Professor Tim Spector, said: “We persuaded the Government to add anosmia to the list back in May and now it is clear we need to add more.”

Care Home Visits

The Alzheimer’s Society welcomed the announcement on allowing named people to visit care home residents in England after testing, and wearing PPE.

However, the charity’s James White said: “We ask the Government to provide clarity on how this will work in practice, and whether it will allow for flexibility in exceptional circumstances, such as an older loved one needing support to visit.”

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