The NHS has expanded the official list of Covid symptoms for adults with nine new signs to watch out for, more than two years since the pandemic began.
It comes after the Office for National Statistics said almost 5 million people in the UK – including one in 13 people in England – were estimated to have Covid in the week ending March 26.
So what is the new advice and how does it add to previous advice:
What was the original advice?
The UK has listed three key symptoms of the virus since March 2020, despite public health advice from the World Health Organisation and the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention listing more disease symptoms for some time.
These are:
- A high temperature or shivering. A high temperature means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back, and you do not need to measure your temperature
- A new, continuous cough, which means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours.
- A loss or change to your sense of smell or taste.
What are the nine new symptoms?
Alongside the original three symptoms, the nine new symptoms are:
- 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 NHS advises these are similar to the symptoms of colds and flu.
The move to add the new symptoms was welcomed by King’s College professor, Tim Spector, who said: “NHS official Main symptoms of coronavirus (Covid-19) have finally changed after 2 years of lobbying”.
What should I do if I have these symptoms?
Those in England are no longer required to legally self-isolate if they have symptoms or if they test positive for Covid.
However, the NHS advises those with symptoms to stay at home and away from others to avoid potentially passing on the virus.
This is especially important if you are likely to come into contact with vulnerable people, if their immune system means they’re at higher risk of serious illness from Covid.
The advice states you can go back to your normal activities when you feel better or do not have a high temperature.
What should I do if I test positive?
As free mass testing ended in England on April 1, the vast majority of people will now have to pay for tests to confirm whether they are positive, even if they have symptoms.
For those people who have a positive result, the advice states try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for five days.
It also advises avoiding meeting people at higher risk from Covid for 10 days.
