One unusual Covid symptom expert in ear 'we haven't heard much about'

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A coronavirus expert has highlighted two concerning Covid symptoms as Omicron continues to mutate.Professor Tim Spector, an epidemiologist, King's College London professor and co-founder of the ZOE Covid Study app, issued an update on two new Omicron sub-variants called BA.4 and BA.5.In his latest YouTube video, the Covid expert warned of two Covid symptoms - loss of smell and tinnitus - with the latter being a sign 'we haven't heard much about'.

The alert comes after Prof Spector and his team carried out a survey to assess the prevalence of tinnitus in people infected with Covid, reports the Express.

Prof Spector said the UK is not yet seeing "worrying levels" of the variants, but he warned: "We are keeping an eye on this because South Africa - where Omicron was first picked up - is seeing BA.4 and BA.5 increasing quite fast."Tinnitus is when people experience ringing or other noises in one or both of their ears.He said loss of smell and tinnitus are symptoms to take "really seriously", although the former was more associated with previous strains."It suggests another part of the body is being affected, something internal, more close to the brain," he said.Despite being "something we haven't heard much about, it turns out that 19% or one in five of you did have ear problems because of Covid", he said.According to the ZOE lead, of the 14,500 people who took part in the survey, 5,000 tested positive for Covid and ear ringing.Participants said the symptom "comes and goes and can be mild to moderate for weeks or months".Prof Spector admitted he did get it but it "disappeared quickly in me".People are advised to contact their GP if they have tinnitus regularly or constantly. Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland