Omicron's mildness has changed the symptoms of Covid, analysis by Government scientists has suggested.
Britons who catch the virus are now 80 per cent more likely to suffer a sore throat than they were three months ago when Delta was the dominant strain.
But loss of taste and smell is now much less likely to affect Covid-positive people, striking just a third of those it was previously.
Other hallmarks of the virus such as a runny nose, fever and a cough are still just as likely to be experienced by sufferers of the new variant.
The UK Health Security Agency analysis was based on reports from 174,755 Omicron and 87,930 Delta confirmed cases.
King's College London scientists — who also study Covid symptoms — called on the Government to add sore throat to the official Covid warning lists list immediately.
They said they were also seeing fewer people experiencing loss of smell now than when Delta was the main variant.
UK Health Security Agency scientists found 54 per cent of Omicron infected people suffered a sore throat, compared to 34 per cent of Delta infected people. They also found that just 13 per cent of Omicron cases had loss of smell and taste, compared to 34 per cent for Delta
For the analysis, participants were asked to mark down which symptoms they had experienced during a confirmed Covid infection.
UKHSA scientists then compared the answers of those with a confirmed Omicron or Delta infection to investigate whether the warning signs had changed.
Up to 90 per cent of participants experienced at least one symptom during their infection.
Positive swabs were analysed to confirm whether someone had Omicron or Delta.
They found 54 per cent of Omicron-infected people suffered a sore throat, but only 13 per cent said they had loss of taste and smell.
For comparison, for those with Delta 34 per cent suffered either a sore throat or loss of taste and smell.
Professor Tim Spector, who leads the ZOE Covid symptom study, said the main symptoms had not changed from when Delta was dominant.
