Linda geddis, as a guardian science correspondent, you recently reported on the symptoms newly added to the u.K's covid symptom list. Ministers are finally acknowledging what has been patently obvious since the beginning of the pandemic - that people have been experiencing more than just high temperature and cough. So in addition to fever, a new conti s, cough and loss of smell, or change to smell and taste, we've got shortness of breath, tiredness or exhaustion, body aches, headache, sore throat,. A blocked or runny nose, loss of appetite, diare and feeling or being sick.
This week, the UK expanded its official Covid symptom list to 12 symptoms including sore throat, loss of appetite, and a blocked or runny nose. British scientists have long called for a broadening of the list, but the change comes at a time when free rapid tests have been scrapped, and the UK is seeing its highest ever levels of infection, according the the Office for National Statistics. Madeleine Finlay speaks to science correspondent Linda Geddes about why this has happened now, what symptoms still haven’t made the list, and what it could all mean going forward. Help support our independent journalism at
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