Be advised.

Covid-19, unfortunately, hasn't gone away. A considerable spike in positive cases has been visible across Ireland in recent weeks, despite signs that we may hopefully be through the worst of it. Despite renewed calls from healthcare professionals to return to public health measures, the Government is holding firm on the status quo in step with the lapsing of its emergency legislative powers. At the weekend, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said that people under the age of 55 who do not have underlying health conditions will no longer require Covid tests, and instead should simply self-isolate until their symptoms clear up "in a few days". However, there are now some potentially new symptoms to consider. The UK's National Health Service (NHS) has identified and outlined nine new symptoms following the phasing out of free universal testing. Covid infection levels in the UK have reached a record high, with over five million people presently estimated to be infected by the virus. The new symptoms include a blocked nose, diarrhoea and loss of appetite. The symptoms are as follows:

• Shortness of breath
• Feeling tired or exhausted
• An aching body
• A headache
• A sore throat
• A blocked or runny nose
• Loss of appetite
• Diarrhoea
• Feeling sick or being sick

The symptoms join pre-existing traditional indicators, including:

• Fever
• New and persistent cough
• Loss of taste and smell

For comparative contrast, the Health Service Executive of Ireland (HSE) currently lists fever, dry cough, and fatigue as the three most commonly recognised symptoms. The HSE has previously officially recognised much of the now-established UK symptoms as "less common". Lead scientist of the ZOE Covid-19 symptom tracker app, Professor Tim Spector, noted that his team had been pushing for the new symptoms to be officially recognised for some time. "We've been sharing the wider symptoms of Covid for almost two years because we were following the science," said Spector on Twitter. "NHS finally recognises that there are more – hopefully now people are aware it [will] help bring down Covid numbers from record highs." https://twitter.com/timspector/status/1510965730233176072