Covid symptoms: Professor says range should be expanded
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Covid cases have started to fall across the UK, after months of rising infection rates. You should get tested for coronavirus if you develop any of the key warning signs of infection. But, scientists have now urged the Government to expand the NHS’s list of coronavirus symptoms so that more people will have access to tests.
Currently, you’re only eligible for a Covid test if you develop a high fever, a new cough, or a loss of smell or taste.
It was believed that most coronavirus patients will develop at least one of these three key symptoms.
But it’s now been revealed that almost a third of all patients that are feeling generally unwell from coronavirus don’t develop any of those three symptoms, according to the COVID Symptom Study App.
Extending the eligibility for Covid testing to four other common symptoms could help to catch “hundreds of thousands of cases in the UK”, it said.
Fatigue, sore throats, headache, and diarrhoea should all be added to the official list of coronavirus symptoms, the researchers urged.
The experts analysed data from more than 122,000 adults users of the app.
Participants logged their daily symptoms using their phones, and also reported whether they’ve had a positive Covid test.
Contributors are offered a test if they report a number of common symptoms – aside from the ‘classic three’.
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“When PCR testing was scarcely available, it made sense to restrict it,” said lead scientist for the app, Dr Claire Steves.
“Now in the UK we have plenty of tests available, thanks to so much effort by labs all over the country, and every positive person detected could save lives.
“We urge the Government to expand the testing criteria so that anyone with new symptoms that might be COVID-19 should be able to get a test to help stop the spread of the virus.”
The researchers have urged the Government to expand Covid testing to a broader range of symptoms, to help detect more positive cases, and to end the pandemic earlier.
But just because you develop a headache or fatigue, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have coronavirus.
Headaches are very common, and could be caused by spending too much time looking at a screen, or even bad posture.
Fatigue is also very normal, and it’s one of the most common causes for people speaking to their local GP.
If you log your symptoms daily using the app, however, it’s best to get tested for coronavirus if you’re offered the chance.
More than 115,000 people have died from Covid in the UK since the start of the pandemic.
We’re currently in the middle of a third national lockdown, after seriously high infection rates in December.
The spike in cases was largely attributed to a new strain of the coronavirus, which was first identified in Kent.
It’s absolutely vital that you self-isolate if you develop any of the key warning signs of coronavirus.
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