As universal testing ended throughout the weekend, the NHS has updated its list of official Covid symptoms.
The health service quietly extended the list of official symptoms on Friday afternoon after it remained unchanged for the two years the pandemic had spread throughout the country. Previously, only three symptoms were listed on the NHS website: a high temperature, a new, continuous cough and a loss or change to smell and taste.
These symptoms were first posted at the start of the pandemic and had remained unchanged until now. But with new variants continuing to pop up all over the world, the list has now been updated with nine extra symptoms listed, the Mirror reports.
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The new list of symptoms still include the previous three, but now also includes:
- Shortness of breath
- Feeling tired or exhausted
- An aching body
- A headache
- A sore throat
- A blocked or runny nose
- Loss of appetite
- Diarrhoea
- Feeling sick or being sick
The new list greatly expands on the former three symptoms after people have reported new symptoms throughout the past few months which often did not include ones listed on the NHS website. After listing the symptoms, the NHS website highlights: “The symptoms are very similar to symptoms of other illnesses, such as colds and flu.”
While people who experienced any of the symptoms listed on the NHS website, "even if mild", they were advised to get tested as soon as possible. But, new government guidance is now advising people with symptoms to simply stay at home and avoid contact with other people.
Despite this, the government guidance also advises people with symptoms to go to work as long as they feel well enough to do so. It comes as infection rates soar across the UK, with Greater Manchester's infection rate is now reaching 609.8 cases per 100,000 population. The infection rate in the region is lower than the national average, which is 840.5 cases per 100,000 people.
A total of 17,292 people tested positive for coronavirus across Greater Manchester in the week which ended on March 28. The Greater Manchester weekly total has increased by 716 cases compared to the previous week, which means the infection rate was up four per cent in the last week.
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