Healthcare professionals are seeing a surge in patients with common colds, with many reporting headaches, a sore throat and a runny nose, which are also symptoms of the highly infectious Delta variant of COVID-19.

This has spurred the Superintendent of Public Health, Charmaine Gauci to urge anyone experiencing these symptoms to book a COVID-19 test.

She told Times of Malta about the surge on Wednesday.

Despite the number of COVID infections being low in recent weeks, anyone with those symptoms should get tested, even if they think they only have a cold, she stressed.

This was crucial given that the symptoms experienced by those infected with the Delta variant abroad were almost identical to those seen with the common cold, she added.

These symptoms were not commonly associated with COVID-19 earlier in the pandemic.

“Before, people with a sore throat did not always get tested because they thought it could not be COVID-19. But, with the Delta variant, the symptoms are almost identical. We’re no longer simply looking out for headaches.”

She urged those with even the slightest symptoms to book a test immediately to be safe.

So far, Malta has detected only one case of the Delta variant. This, however, should not serve as an excuse for people with symptoms to avoid a test because the variant is spreading fast abroad, Gauci said.

In countries such as the UK, the variant, first detected in India, has seen a dramatic spike in new infections detected.

Malta's health authorities confirmed on Thursday that some 7,000 people who have been vaccinated with the AstraZeneca jab against COVID will receive their second dose earlier than planned as a precaution against the Delta variant.