The duration of your sore throat could reveal whether you have COVID-19 or not
How to differentiate between COVID sore throat and a sore throat from flu/common cold
In a media briefing on Wednesday, World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus spoke of a new sub-variant of the highly transmissible Omicron variant of COVID-19 that has now been detected in India.
The WHO chief also shed light on the sudden spike of coronavirus cases worldwide. “Globally reported cases have increased nearly 30 per cent over the past two weeks. Four out of six of the WHO subregions saw cases increase in the last week," he said.
"In Europe and America, BA.4 and BA.5 are driving waves. In countries like India a new sub-lineage of BA.2.75 has also been detected, which we're following," he added.
Given that the global health agency has come forward to lay emphasis on the situation, it is important that we take necessary precautions to curb the spread of the virus.
With the change in seasons and monsoon bringing in several other viral infections, it could become difficult to tell the symptoms apart. However, if you develop a sore throat, experts believe the duration of your symptom could reveal whether you have COVID-19 or not.
What a COVID sore throat feels like
Could it be COVID or is it a common cold?
The SARs-CoV-2 virus is a respiratory illness just like a common cold or influenza. It can impact both the upper and the lower respiratory tract giving light to several symptoms.
Sore throat is one of the most common symptoms that arises with respiratory infections. Other than that, fever, cough, runny nose, and sneezing are some of the other most commonly reported symptoms in people infected with COVID or common cold/flu.
The best way to differentiate between COVID and common cold/flu is by looking at the severity of the disease and how fast the viruses travel. COVID-19 seems to spread more easily than the flu or the common cold and takes more time when it comes to recovery.
The duration of COVID sore throat may help tell it apart from a normal cold
According to the data collected by the UK's ZOE Covid Symptom Study app, while a sore throat is a less well-known symptom of COVID, it is an early sign of the disease and common among children and adults aged 65 and above.
Besides being "relatively mild", experts in charge of the app suggest that sore throat from COVID lasts no more than five days.
Anyone suffering from sore throat for over five days should get themselves tested for some other illness, as per the experts.
Reportedly, a COVID sore throat “usually” appears in the first week of illness and can improve “quite quickly”.
“It feels worse on the first day of infection but gets better on each following day,” researchers at ZOE explain.
Other symptoms that may accompany a coronavirus sore throat
While sore throat is a commonly reported symptom of COVID-19, it is not the only one. According to the ZOE Covid app, 69% of users have reported headache, making it a leading symptom.
Other than that, here are the other tell-tale signs of COVID:
- Fever or chills
- Cough
- Fatigue
- Muscle or body aches
- New loss of taste or smell
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- Congestion or runny nose
- Gastrointestinal issues like nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, diarrhea
Ways to soothe a painful scratchy, sore throat at home
Since COVID-19 infections have become milder, experts believe symptoms can be managed at home. A COVID sore throat can be a painful experience, but it can be eased with certain home remedies.
One must drink plenty of warm water and stay hydrated. You can also mix a spoonful of honey to soothe the irritation and inflammation in the throat.
Gargling with saltwater is also read to be a soothing practice. You can also do such on throat lozenges, which helps keep your throat moist.
Make sure you get enough rest so that your body's immune system is recharged and can combat infections efficiently.
In case the home remedies fail, you can take over-the-counter medications prescribed by your doctors to ease your pain.