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Scientists Identify 6 Distinct Types of COVID-19
Scientists have claimed that there are six distinct ‘types’ of Covid-19, each distinguished by a particular cluster of symptoms in patients, findings, if validated, can help physicians better diagnose and monitor those infected with the novel coronavirus.
The yet-to-be peer reviewed study, published in the medRxiv preprint platform, used a machine learning algorithm to analyse data from a subset of around 1,600 users of the Covid Symptom Study app in the UK and US with confirmed Covid-19, who had regularly logged their symptoms between March and April.
It analysed if particular symptoms appeared together, and how this was related to the progression of the disease.
According to the scientists, led by those from King’s College London in the UK, the findings have major implications for the clinical management of Covid-19 patients.
“These findings have important implications for care and monitoring of people who are most vulnerable to severe Covid-19,” said Claire Steves, a co-author of the study from King’s College London.
They said the research can also help doctors predict who is most at risk and likely to need hospital care in a second wave of coronavirus infections.
The study noted that patient symptoms can fall under one of the six following categories: ‘flu-like’ with no fever, ‘flu-like’ with fever, gastrointestinal, severe level one with fatigue, severe level two with confusion, and severe level three accompanied by abdominal and respiratory pain.
In the first category of patients who reported ‘flu-like symptoms with no fever, the scientists said the manifestations included loss of smell, muscle pains, cough, sore throat, chest pain, but no fever.
According to their analysis, those in the second category had headache, loss of smell, cough, sore throat, hoarseness, fever, and loss of appetite, and those in the gastrointestinal symptoms cluster had a combination of headache, loss of smell, loss of appetite, diarrhea, sore throat, chest pain, but no cough.
Under the ‘severe level one with fatigue’ category, the scientists said patients reported loss of smell, cough, headache, fever, hoarseness, chest pain, and fatigue, and those with the level two of severity expressed these same symptoms with the addition of loss of appetite, sore throat, confusion, and muscle pain.
In the most severe category, the study noted that patients experienced headache, loss of smell, loss of appetite, cough, fever, hoarseness, sore throat, chest pain, fatigue, confusion, muscle pain, shortness of breath, diarrhea, and abdominal pain.
According to the research, all people reporting symptoms experienced headache and loss of smell, with varying combinations of additional symptoms at various times. It said some of the manifestations, such as confusion, abdominal pain and shortness of breath, are not widely known as Covid-19 symptoms, yet are hallmarks of the most severe forms of the disease.
The scientists also analysed if people experiencing particular symptom clusters were more likely to require breathing support in the form of ventilation or additional oxygen.
They discovered that only 1.5 per cent of people with cluster one, 4.4 per cent of those with cluster two and 3.3 per cent in cluster 3 required breathing support.
For clusters four, five, and six, the researchers said these figures were 8.6, 9.9, and 19.8 per cent respectively.
Nearly half of the patients in cluster six, according to the study, ended up in hospital, compared with just 16 per cent of those in cluster one.
People with cluster four, five or six symptoms tended to be older and frailer, and were more likely to be overweight, the scientists said, adding that these patients had pre-existing conditions such as diabetes or lung disease than those in the other types.
“If you can predict who these people are at day five, you have time to give them support and early interventions such as monitoring blood oxygen and sugar levels, and ensuring they are properly hydrated — simple care that could be given at home, preventing hospitalisations and saving lives,” Steves said.
Carole Sudre from King’s College London, one of the lead scientists part of the study, said the research illustrates the importance of monitoring symptoms over time to make predictions about individual risk and outcomes more sophisticated and accurate.
“This approach is helping us to understand the unfolding story of this disease in each patient so they can get the best care,” Sudre said.
“Being able to gather big datasets through the app and apply machine learning to them is having a profound impact on our understanding of the extent and impact of Covid-19, and human health more widely,” added Sebastien Ourselin, a senior author of the study from King’s College London.
Federal government has launched GovGuideNigeria, an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered digital platform designed to streamline access to public service information through WhatsApp and the web.
The platform consolidates information from more than 35 federal ministries and over 60 government agencies, marking a significant step in Nigeria’s drive to expand AI-enabled public infrastructure and digital government services.
According to Bosun Tijani, Nigeria’s minister of communications, innovation and digital economy, the initiative aims to simplify interactions with government services, particularly for underserved communities that often face challenges navigating complex public-sector systems.
Developed in collaboration with the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Meta, and Publica AI, GovGuideNigeria uses conversational AI to provide real-time responses via WhatsApp and a web interface in English, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba.
Sade Dada, head of public policy at Meta, said the multilingual rollout highlights the growing use of natural language processing within African public institutions to improve digital inclusion and broaden access to services.
Ignatius Willie, chief executive of Publica AI, said the platform demonstrates how Africa’s next generation of digital public infrastructure can be developed locally using African languages.
GovGuideNigeria is intended to address longstanding challenges in Nigeria’s public information system, where citizens often struggle to access reliable guidance because of fragmented government websites, poor communication channels and the expense of travelling to physical offices.
Through AI-driven automation, users can obtain information on immigration procedures, documentation requirements, public programmes and agency-specific services through chat-based interactions.
The launch also reflects Nigeria’s broader ambition to integrate AI into digital governance, while strengthening partnerships between government agencies, global technology companies and local AI startups to modernise public service delivery.
Elon Musk is poised to become the world’s first trillionaire after SpaceX, his company, confirmed plans to go public.
Elon Musk
Because Musk owns the majority of the shares, it could push his net worth over the trillion dollar mark.
The entrepreneur is known for his leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, X, and xAI.
Musk has been the wealthiest person in the world since 2025; as of May 2026, Forbes estimates his net worth to be $788 billion.
SpaceX has filed for a blockbuster public listing in the United States, paving the way for what could become the largest stock market debut in Wall Street history.
The company, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies, announced plans to begin trading under the ticker symbol “SPCX” as early as next month.
The listing values SpaceX at about $1.25 trillion, with Musk’s majority ownership potentially worth more than $600 billion alone.
Combined with his existing holdings in companies including Tesla, the IPO could push Musk’s personal wealth above the $1 trillion mark.
The long-awaited filing also offered investors a rare look into SpaceX’s finances.
The company reported $18.6 billion in revenue last year but recorded a net loss of $4.9 billion. In the first quarter of this year, SpaceX generated $4.7 billion in sales while posting a $4.3 billion net loss.
Financial disclosures showed the company holds $102 billion in assets, including rockets, launch infrastructure and satellite systems, while carrying debts totalling $60.5 billion.
Despite the losses, analysts suggested investors were unlikely to be deterred given SpaceX’s dominance in commercial space launches and satellite internet services.
Ruth Foxe-Blader, managing partner at Citrine Venture Partners, described the planned flotation as “extremely exciting.”
“SpaceX is just an absolutely sprawling, enormous project with so many different selling points, and so many points that really point to the future,” she said.
SpaceX operates the Starlink satellite internet network and also owns Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI.
The IPO filing revealed that xAI recently reached a major commercial agreement with rival AI company Anthropic, maker of the Claude chatbot.
Under the arrangement, Anthropic will reportedly pay $15 billion annually to access data centre infrastructure linked to xAI operations in the American South.
The filing also disclosed that SpaceX expects to incur more than half a billion dollars in legal costs from multiple ongoing lawsuits and regulatory disputes.
Among the cases listed were claims alleging that xAI’s chatbot Grok had been used to create sexualised deepfakes of women and girls, alongside patent infringement disputes, music copyright claims, data breach allegations and investigations into compliance with European Union content moderation rules.
Musk has previously said he plans to dissolve xAI as a standalone company and pursue his AI ambitions directly under SpaceX.
The filing came shortly after Musk lost a high-profile legal battle against OpenAI and its chief executive Sam Altman.
Musk had accused OpenAI of abandoning its non-profit mission after shifting towards a commercial model, but a jury dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that he had waited too long to bring the claims.
African financial services platform Moniepoint has partnered with open banking software-as-a-service provider tell.money to deploy a transaction security system in the UK market.
The companies said the partnership will allow Moniepoint to implement Confirmation of Payee, an account name-checking service designed to verify recipient details before payments are processed.
The integration will be rolled out through Monieworld, Moniepoint’s UK remittance subsidiary, as part of the company’s broader European expansion strategy.
Tell.money will provide the underlying verification technology, which the companies said is intended to reduce misdirected payments and help protect users against cross-border fraud.
Ravi Jakhodia, CEO of Monieworld, said: “Our goal with Monieworld is to build financial services for Africans in the diaspora.”
He added that tell.money was selected because it manages compliance and accreditation requirements, allowing the fintech company to focus on customer service.
Moniepoint is entering a competitive UK-to-Africa remittance market that includes established providers such as Wise, WorldRemit and Remitly, as well as African fintech firms including Flutterwave’s Send App.
According to data from the World Bank’s KNOMAD programme, remittance flows to low- and middle-income countries are estimated at about $620 billion annually, with digital -first platforms capturing increasing market share through open banking integrations and automated compliance systems.
The rollout reflects a broader trend of African fintech firms expanding into developed markets by adopting local regulatory and open banking standards.
Industry analysts expect diaspora-focused platforms to evolve beyond money transfers into services such as multi-currency banking, credit and investment products.
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