Cambridge virologist says flu not Covid is more prominent this winter

A leading virologist said his colleagues were seeing far more cases of influenza so far this winter than Covid.

Dr Chris Smith, from the University of Cambridge, said his team had tested people across the East of England to find out what had caused them to fall ill.

"Flu is the major player. Covid's quite far down the list, surprisingly, but it is out there," he said.

He warned it was possible to catch multiple illnesses at the same time and they all had similar symptoms, such as a runny nose and sore throat, making it difficult to diagnose.