What COVID-19 symptoms NT residents are searching for on Google

Anxious Territorians have been searching in record numbers for answers to feeling unwell as the pandemic continues.

A colorised scanning electron micrograph of an apoptotic cell (blue/green) heavily infected with SARS-COV-2 virus particles (yellow), isolated from a patient sample, captured at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. Picture: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/AFP

Worried Australians have been hitting Dr Google in record numbers, with searches related to COVID-19 symptoms breaking previous records for the search engines.

New search data obtained by News Corp Australia from Google Australia has revealed the top symptom-related search terms for Territorians since March, when the World Health Organisation declared the novel coronavirus a pandemic.

For those living in the Northern Territory, the top three search terms related to COVID-19 symptoms were cough, headache and fatigue.

These were rounded out by searches for fever, diarrhoea, sore throat, nasal congestion, shortness of breath and anosmia.

Anosmia, the loss of the sense of smell, is a known side-effect of COVID-19.

According to Google Australia, symptoms-related searches surged to an all-time high in March this year in Australia, a trend which has been mirrored globally, and it is the topic most searched alongside coronavirus in 2020.

See how symptom searches in NT compared to the rest of the nation in our map below.

The spike for “coronavirus symptoms” in its peak month of March was more than three times — or 242 per cent — greater than the previous highest spike for “flu symptoms, making it the highest spiking symptoms-related search on record for Australia.

The previous highest spike was in June 2009 during the Swine Flu (H1N1) pandemic.

Google Australia said the top symptoms-related searches over the past decade have been for cancer, pregnancy, diabetes and the flu.

The Google Australia data also revealed that search interest for “anxiety symptoms” hit a record high this year in September after months of lockdowns.

Interest for the term was up 56 per cent compared with September last year.

An apoptotic cell (blue/green) heavily infected with SARS-COV-2 virus particles (yellow), isolated from a patient sample, captured at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. Picture: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/AFP

It comes as a new strain of COVID-19 spreading in the UK was detected in Australia’s hotel quarantine system.

The mutant strain, named VUI – 202012/01, was first recognised in September, according to scientists at the COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium (COG-UK) who have been working with Public Health England (PHE).

The first case was found in Kent on September 20, followed by London the next day, according to a report on behalf of COG-UK.

The strain accounts for over 60 per cent of new infections in London, according to Sir Patrick Vallance, the chief scientific adviser, up from 28 per cent in early November.

The South East is currently fighting an uphill battle with the disease, and has some the highest number of cases in the UK.

The region, including London, was put under a new Tier 4 level on Sunday in response to new evidence the sprain can spread faster, in effect cancelling Christmas for millions.

The new strain may be up to 70 per cent more transmissible, according to early analysis.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson told Britons at a Downing Street briefing on Saturday night the new strain could increase the R rate by 0.4 or more.

The R rate is the number of people an infected person passes the disease on to, and is currently 1.1 to 1.2. It must be kept below 1 in order for the outbreak to shrink.

Professor Chris Whitty, chief medical officer for England, said the UK has informed the World Health Organisation that the new variant coronavirus can spread more rapidly.

He said the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG), a subgroup of SAGE, “now consider that the new strain can spread more quickly”.

Originally published as What COVID-19 symptoms NT residents are searching for on Google