The three main symptoms of Covid-19 are still:
- Fever (37.8 C or above)
- Cough
- Change or loss of sense of taste or smell
If you have any of these symptoms you must self-isolate and get a PCR test, not a LFT. If you have any of the main symptoms a negative LFT does not mean you do not have Covid-19.
A wider range of symptoms MAY be associated with Covid-19 infection, if they are new, persistent, or unusual for you, and are not caused or explained by a condition such as hay fever.
The new wider symptoms of Covid-19 are:
- Feeling unusually tired
- General ‘flu-like aches and pains (myalgia)
- Sore throat and / or hoarseness
- Shortness of breath or wheezing
- Persistent headache
- Runny or blocked nose
- Feeling sick (nausea), vomiting or diarrhoea
If you, or a member of your household, has one or more of the ‘wider symptoms’ it does not necessarily mean you have COVID-19. However, we are being extra cautious and recommend testing to people with any of the ‘wider symptoms’ above.
If you, or anyone in your household, develops ONE OR MORE OF THE WIDER SYMPTOMS (but not one of the three main symptoms), then please:
• Book a PCR test: https://www.nhs.uk/ask-for-a-coronavirus-test and select ‘get a free PCR test’, then select ‘My local council or health protection team has asked me to get a test, even though I do not have symptoms’ or ‘phone 119.
• If you have one or more of the wider symptoms BUT NOT ONE OF THE THREE MAIN SYMPTOMS then neither the person taking the test, nor anyone in their household, needs to isolate and can go to school or work as usual while waiting for their test results.
• However, households must isolate if anyone develops any of the 3 main COVID-19 symptoms while waiting for a test result, taken because of wider symptoms to come back.
• If the test result is positive, then the person will need to go home straight away and the household will need to isolate for 10 days from the date of the positive swab.
• Children and adults with diarrhoea and / or vomiting should remain off work or school until they are symptom free for 48 hours, even if their Covid-19 test is negative.