I Have the New COVID Variant and This is What it Feels Like

The new COVID-19 variant, EG.5, also called Eris, the dominant strain of the virus, is quickly spreading across the globe. While "the public health risk posed by EG.5 is evaluated as low at the global level," according to a recent statement by the WHO the total number of people testing positive as well as hospitalizations, have increased in recent weeks. How does the new mutation of the virus differ from others in terms of symptoms? Recently, one patient shared a video of exactly what it feels like to be infected by EG.5. Here are twelve things to be aware of.

In his viral video taken from bed, Estrada explains when he knew he was sick. "All right, what's up TikTok? So second week of college and I got bad news, COVID is back. So, at first, I thought I was getting the flu or allergies. I normally get that, but nope," he said. 

He explained that he "had a weird feeling on Saturday and Sunday" and started experiencing some mysterious symptoms. The first? "I was getting lower back pain," he said. 

He proceeded to reveal the next symptoms. "Then my throat felt weird. I felt like it was irritated," he explained. 

He also experienced a symptom common with allergies. "And then I started sneezing for a couple of days," he continued. 

Another common allergy or cold symptom? "And the runny nose started," he continued.  

There was one final symptom that encouraged him to get tests. "A really bad cough," he said. 

"And then I was like, yeah, this isn't the flu, this is something else. So I asked one of my friends, and they gave me a COVID test. So now I'm quarantined for a week, but we're starting this … again that we were done with COVID, but nope," he explained. 

"One thing I noticed is that it hit me harder this time than last time. So I think COVID came back stronger because the last time I had COVID, I was fine, literally in two days. And this week, I could barely get up," he said. 

Now that the virus is in full swing, he is experiencing more severe symptoms. "I could barely talk. Now I'm losing my voice and stuff," he revealed. 

"And one of the craziest symptoms was that people typically lose their taste. I can barely taste anything now, and I've never had that," he added. 

He is also experiencing temperature dysregulation. "The other thing is I can't really feel like the temperature. My body's either really cold, really hot, been getting fevers, " he continued. 

He revealed one last symptom. "I get a lot of migraines right now," he said before concluding the clip. "So yeah, COVID is not good right now."