Anyone else had a cough for about three weeks at this point? A sinus headache that won’t go away? Or perhaps your nose has been running non-stop like a tap, leaving you looking like the most notable of Santa’s reindeers. Yep, we’re all there. All of us. There’s definitely been something going around since you shared the mic at that staff karaoke, and apparently, it’s not Covid.
So what is the monster cold striking us all down? Well, though it’s not coronavirus, it’s probably got something to do with it. Scientists have suggested there’s been a massive increase in ‘super colds’ (the kind of colds that mean you haven’t got out of bed in three days), and that they’re linked to a loss of immunity as a result of lockdown.
Apparently, this particularly is affecting us much harder than the strains of Covid going around at the minute. In the week to November 28, 1,043,965 working days were lost across the UK to various coughs, colds and flu, according to The Daily Telegraph. In the same week, 863,222 days were lost to old ‘rona. That makes this the first time since the start of the pandemic where other colds and flu-y bugs are causing more work absences than Covid.
But even though it’s not Covid, the NHS is still massively feeling the effects of these bugs. It’s currently facing a record number of treatment backlogs, as well as workforce shortages and planned staff strikes.
World Health Organisation adviser Paul Hunter said that infections are more severe due to our ‘waning protection against severe disease’.
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