COVID-19

Also called Coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2

Still here, still seasonal, and still much more dangerous for some people than others. Vaccination and early antivirals are the two things that change outcomes.

What it is

An infection caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. For most people now it behaves like a bad cold or flu, because of immunity built up from vaccination and previous infection.

It has not become mild for everybody. People who are older, immunosuppressed, on dialysis, living with severe COPD or heart failure, or living with a learning disability remain at materially higher risk of severe illness and death.

Two things reliably change the outcome: keeping up with the vaccinations a person is eligible for, and, for those in the highest-risk groups, starting antiviral treatment within five days of symptoms beginning. The five days is the part that gets missed, because it requires the person to test early and know they are eligible before they are ill.

A proportion of people develop symptoms lasting months. See long COVID.

Signs you might notice

A high temperature, a new continuous cough, loss or change of smell or taste, sore throat, headache, aching, tiredness, and shortness of breath.

In older or frail people, the first signs are often confusion, falling, drowsiness or simply being off their food, with no cough at all. See delirium.

999 for severe breathlessness, chest pain, blue or grey lips or face, collapse, or being unable to stay awake.

Worsening on around day seven to ten, after seeming to improve, is the pattern that matters most.

How it can affect day-to-day life

Isolation guidance has relaxed, but the calculation has not changed for households and services that include somebody at high risk.

For care settings, an outbreak is still an outbreak, and the residents most likely to deteriorate are the least likely to be able to say they feel unwell.

For people who are immunosuppressed, the pandemic did not end. Many have had years of being told the risk is over by people it is genuinely over for, and that gap does real damage to trust.

Supporting someone well

Know in advance whether the person is in a group eligible for antivirals, and know how to access them where you live. Waiting to find out on day four is how people miss the window.

Keep vaccinations up to date, including the seasonal boosters they are entitled to.

Test early when there is a reason to, particularly before visiting somebody at high risk.

Fluids, rest, paracetamol. Watch the trajectory more than any single reading, and take new confusion in an older person seriously.

Do not assume recovery is linear. Plan for the fortnight, not the weekend.

Where to get help

NHS 111 or the NHS website for current testing, vaccination and antiviral eligibility, which changes by season.

A GP practice for anybody at high risk who is deteriorating.

999 for the emergency signs above.

Long Covid SOS for people whose symptoms have not resolved.