COVID Delta variant disguises itself as an innocent cold

Studies from the UK show that the symptoms of the Delta (Indian) variant of COVID-19 can be quite different from what we've been used to looking for thus far. As the Delta variant becomes the dominant strain across most of the world, this could be an important factor, and I haven't seen much press coverage of it, at least not here in Canada.

The most common symptoms of the Delta variant are headaches, a sore throat, and a runny nose, making it seem for all the world like a regular cold, and leading many people to just shrug it off and ignore it when they should be getting themselves tested and self-isolating. Indeed, some British medical advisers are suggesting that ignorance of this change in symptomology may be one of the main reasons that the Delta variant is spreading so rapidly.

After headache, sore throat and runny nose, the next most common symptoms are fever and cough (which were once the main lay-person identifiers for the virus). Loss of smell, once a definitive COVID symptom, doesn't even make the top ten of Delta variant symptoms.