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Covid cases continue to rise across the UK, and more than 80,000 people have died from the deadly virus. An expert has warned the public of a new coronavirus symptom that you may be missing in your mouth. Does your tongue look like this?
The UK is in the middle of a third national lockdown, after rising infection rates across the country.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson was forced into announcing the lockdown on January 4.
He explained that the tiering system was working for a time, but the introduction of a new, more transmissible Covid variant has blown it out of the water.
The public are still being urged to remain vigilant for any signs of Covid, and to self-isolate if necessary.
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One of the “less common” warning signs of Covid may be developing in the mouth, according to Professor Tim Spector, who runs the ZOE Covid Symptom Study app.
Around 20 percent of all patients exhibit signs that aren’t on the Government’s official list of coronavirus symptoms, he said.
Any new skin rash or mouth ulcer could be caused by Covid-19, he added.
But Spector also warned that some patients may develop ‘Covid tongues’.
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“One in five people with Covid still present with less common symptoms that don’t get on the official PHE list – such as skin rashes,” tweeted Professor Spector.
“Seeing increasing numbers of Covid tongues and strange mouth ulcers.
“If you have a strange symptom or even just headache and fatigue stay at home!”
He included an image of a patient with Covid tongue, showing white patches all over the tongue.
Some people have likened the appearance of Covid tongue to another condition, known as Geographic tongue.
The latter is an inflammatory condition that affects the surface of the tongue.
It causes patches to develop all over the tongue that appear similar to a map.
While the condition may look alarming, it’s completely harmless, and it usually resolves itself within a few days or weeks.
But if you develop Covid tongue along with any of the three most important coronavirus symptoms, you should get tested for Covid straight away.
The three symptoms to watch out for include a high fever, a new, continuous cough, or a loss of taste or smell.
Most people that are infected with coronavirus develop at least one of these warning signs.
If you test positive for Covid, you should self-isolate for at least 10 days.
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