I tested positive for Covid and this is what it's really like as XEC variant spreads

A number of people have spoken about their symptoms after contracting Covid
-Credit: (Image: PA)


People who have tested positive for Covid have explained what it's really like to have the infection now.

Many have reported the symptoms they had and how they went on to carry out a Covid test. It comes as the new XEC variant spreads globally - it has now been detected in 27 countries across Europe, Asia and North America.

Despite only being found three weeks ago, 13% of cases in Germany are now the XEC variant. More than 80 cases have now been reported in the UK.

READ MORE:Heartbreak as dad collapses and dies on Jet2 flight, leaving family facing huge costs

READ MORE:Long-term DWP sickness benefits claimants should have to look for work says Keir Starmer

Richard Orton, a Bioinformatics Research Associate at the University of Glasgow, told The Conversation media outlet about the concerning trajectory of XEC: "XEC appears to have a growth advantage and is spreading faster than other circulating variants, suggesting it will become the dominant variant globally in the next few months."

He added: "This new variant will probably be similar to other Covid variants in terms of the disease caused, given its similar genetic information. So symptoms such as a high temperature, sore throat with a cough, headaches and body aches along with tiredness are to be expected."

What it's like to have Covid now

The Manchester Evening News spoke to a number of people who have tested positive for Covid-19 in recent weeks. “I tested positive in July, I think around the fourth or fifth time I’ve tested positive for Covid, I’ve had it a lot,” said Hannah, from Levenshulme.

“I was surprised because I last had it in mid-December and then tested positive again at the beginning of July. I didn’t expect to get it again so soon.

“Now when you get a cold, you think ‘is this Covid?’ But I think you could tell from the distinctive cough and feeling in your chest. I just knew it was Covid and put off testing for a few days, but then I did and it was positive, and I wasn’t entirely surprised.”

Hannah spoke of her initial symptoms, saying: “I started feeling quite tired and like I was getting ill, but I couldn’t tell if it was just the result of a few late nights. I just felt really, really tired and didn’t have an appetite. Two days later I started with a cough."

The 39-year-old found that the symptoms were not as severe as previous iterations of the illness, but it still took several days to clear. “This time, I found the symptoms were most mild,” she said.

“When I had Covid in December I was in bed for a couple of days. This time, I was up and about. I felt a bit rough but it didn’t completely knock me out like it has in the past.

“I didn’t test every day because you have to pay for the tests and I didn’t have that many. It didn’t last as long and it wasn’t as severe, but you could definitely tell it was Covid not just a cold.

“When I had it in December though, it took 10 or 11 days to test negative. Whereas this was maybe around five or six.

Keep up to date with all the latest breaking news and top stories from the North East with our free newsletter

“It was the mildest strain that I’ve had, I still felt quite rough but when I had it the last time I had to take a couple of days off work because I felt I couldn’t concentrate, I felt awful, it hurt to look at a screen. This time, I didn’t take any time off.”

Another 28-year-old woman who spoke to the M.E.N. said she suspected having Covid-19 at the end of August after attending a music festival in London. Heavy cold-like symptoms set in for around three days, she explained.

“A few days in, a wave of tiredness took over for around a day, and all I could do was nap on my sofa. That felt very similar to when I’d been ill during the Omicron wave in summer of 2022,” she said.

“I didn’t have any Covid tests in the house and felt too ill to go outside. I knew that I wanted to stay at home and not pass whatever illness I had to anyone else, so thought it didn’t make much difference if I confirmed whether it was Covid or not, seeing as I’d be isolating anyway.

“And I’d have to go to a busy shop, which would only put those people inside at risk. But it took around another few days for the symptoms, particularly the exhaustion, to pass.”

Ste, from Prestwich, decided he would test after learning a friend he’d spent time with had just had a positive Covid result. "This was the third occasion that I've had Covid - as far as I know at least," he explained. "I probably wouldn't have realised I had it this time if it wasn't for a friend who had tested positive, because they still need to test for their job.

"I had noticed a bit of a sore throat which didn't last long, but the main issue was a runny nose and frequently sneezing. It felt very similar to hay-fever.

"The symptoms were the least severe of any time I had Covid. I thought I may have caught a bit of a chill after a boozy and unseasonably cool August bank holiday at Manchester Pride, and hadn't thought much else of it. It was nothing at all like the first time I had it in November 2020, before the jab, when I lost my sense of taste and felt shattered for a time even after I'd shifted the virus."