A common Omicron symptom is affecting men and women differently as infection rates rise in the UK.

40% of women are suffering with fatigue as a result of contracting the Omicron variant of Covid-19 while just a third of men are affected, new research from Web MD suggests.

Covid infections continue to rise across the UK, driven by the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of the virus.

New figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that 2.7 million people in private households are estimated to have had Covid-19 last week, up 18% from 2.3 million the previous week.

Mark Woolhouse, professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh, said the UK was now in “a substantial wave of infection” which underlines that coronavirus “is not just a problem in winter”.

Generally, people are reporting milder reactions to the virus however many patients have noticed they are different to Alpha, Beta and Delta.

The five distinct symptoms of Omicron are a scratchy throat, a dry cough, extreme tiredness, mild muscle aches and night sweats.

Official NHS Covid symptoms to look out for

Infectious disease expert Dr Sachin Nagrani said: "As an acute symptom, while new fatigue could be an early marker of a COVID-19 infection, the fatigue could easily be due to another cause.

"It's also important to remember that many cases of Covid-19 have no symptoms at all, which is one reason it has continued to spread so easily."

The latest variant which sparked a return of stricter regulations across the UK towards the end of 2021 now seems to be under control as restrictions begin to be eased across the UK.