Boris Johnson announced the coronavirus pandemic is far from over when he addressed the nation earlier this week.

The Prime Minister said the latest record Covid case figures showed that those who believed the pandemic to be over were “profoundly wrong”.

Speaking at a press briefing in Downing Street, the Prime Minister said: “Our United Kingdom is in the midst of the fastest growth in Covid cases that we’ve ever known. 

As cases spread across the UK doctors warn of a distinctive new symptom linked to the Omicron variant which appears during the night.

Doctors in South Africa, where the variant was first detected, have said patients are reporting experiencing night sweats.

Night sweats are when you sweat so much that your night clothes and bedding are left soaking wet, even though where you are sleeping is cool.

5 reported Omicron symptoms different to NHS list

Generally, people are reporting milder reactions to the virus however many patients have noticed they are different to Alpha, Beta and Delta.

The NHS website list three main symptoms of coronavirus:

  • A high temperature
  • A new, continuous cough
  • A loss or change to your sense of smell or taste

But Dr Angelique Coetzee, chair of the South African Medical Association, has noticed five symptoms that differ from the Delta variant.

Dr Coetzee told the Daily Star that she alerted officials of a “clinical picture that doesn’t fit Delta” on November 18.

The five distinct symptoms of Omicron are:

  • A scratchy throat (as opposed to a sore throat)
  • A dry cough
  • Extreme tiredness
  • Mild muscle aches
  • Night sweats

Dr Amir Khan explained on ITV’s Lorraine that these new symptoms need to be added to the NHS website to help keep track of cases and make infections easier to detect.

He said: “The symptoms that are coming out of South Africa by the doctors that are looking after patients with Omicron show these five new symptoms.

“A scratchy throat, mild muscle aches, extreme tiredness, a dry cough and night sweats.

“Those kind of drenching night sweats where you might have to get up and change your clothes.

“And this is important. It’s important we keep on top of these symptoms, because if we’re going to keep track of Omicron here and worldwide we need to be able to test people with these symptoms.

“If they go onto the NHS website and say I’ve got night sweats and I’ve got muscle aches, they may not be able to book a PCR test.

“So we need the NHS website to keep up with these symptoms.”

Boris Johnson slams anti-vax campaigners

Anti-vaccine campaigners who spread “mumbo jumbo” and “nonsense” on social media are “completely wrong”, Boris Johnson has said.

Speaking to broadcasters during a visit to a vaccination centre in Moulton Park, Northampton, the Prime Minister said a “voluntary approach” to vaccination will remain, amid other countries’ “coercion”.

He said: “I want to say to the anti-vax campaigners, the people who are putting this mumbo jumbo on social media: they are completely wrong.

“You haven’t heard me say that before, because I think it’s important we have a voluntary approach in this country and we’re going to keep a voluntary approach.”

Take a look at the latest cases of Omicron across the UK on our interactive map below...