infection with COVID-19 symptoms have expanded to include the following nine signs of viral infection. UK Health and Safety Authority 's updated guide now lists symptoms including sore throat, muscle pain and diarrhea. This move comes a few days after the free nucleic acid test in England after more than two years of the outbreak.
However, the UK National Healthcare System NHS warned that many new symptoms are “very similar” to the symptoms of colds and flu . The first signs of COVID-19 infection found in the UK are:
- Fever
- Continuous cough
- Loss of smell or taste
From the beginning of the outbreak, these three diseases are just the tip of the iceberg. For some time, WHO and other countries, including the United States, have used a more specific symptom list. However, the UK has been arguing about exactly what symptoms should be identified and qualify patients with suspected infection for nucleic acid testing.
Headache is a known symptom of COVID-19, but the government does not want to use one symptom to test every suspected patient because there are many other reasons. Fever, cough or loss of smell or taste has been considered as conclusive symptoms of COVID-19, as they are either present in most infection cases or are almost entirely caused by the virus.
But now the government proposes nine other new symptoms of COVID-19:
- Shortness of breath
- Feeling tired or weak
- Body pain
- Headache
- Sore throat
- Nasal congestion or runny
- Loss of appetite
- Diarrhea
- Feeling uncomfortable or sick
- In the UK, the number of COVID-19 infections is at a record high level, and 4.9 million people (about one in 13 people are infected) have tested positive for the virus. Free nucleic acid tests for most people in the UK ended last week.
NHS said that people should stay at home to isolate and avoid contact with others only when you have symptoms of coronavirus infection and high body temperature, or if the symptoms are severe enough to work. Professor Tim Spector of King's College London has been striving to expand the number of infection symptoms as people track data on symptoms in the Zoe Covid-19 app.
The latest weekly data from the UK's Office of Statistics shows that the number of new crown infections in the UK hit a record high, with 4.9 million affected. The number of severely ill patients hospitalized is also rising, although the level is still far below the level of previous waves of the epidemic.
So far, the COVID-19 vaccination program has been popular among people aged 12 and above, with 9 of 10 people receiving the vaccine for the first time. Meanwhile, England has cancelled the free coronavirus testing policy for most people, although Scottish and Wales will continue to perform some free nucleic acid tests on the public.
According to government data, more than 165,000 people have died in the UK since the outbreak of the virus in the UK.
infection rate rose again:
According to an infection survey by the National Bureau of Statistics , the infection rate rose sharply again, with an estimated 1 in every 13 people infected in the week ending March 26.
This survey is believed to provide the best situation for infections across the UK, as people tested were randomly selected. Survey participants across the country were tested weekly, with a few days lag before the data was released.
has a higher transmission rate than Omickron subvariant—BA.2, the main strain that causes most infections now.
Daily deaths remain low
On Monday, the death toll within 28 days after testing positive was reported, including weekend data. England accounted for 152 cases, Scotland reported 38 cases, Northern Ireland was 13 cases, and Wales was 7 cases. As of February 1, the daily death toll included those who died after a second infection, which were often removed from the total in the past. Until recently, doctors believed that the number of deaths caused by the coronavirus had been lower than the official daily death toll.
Indeed, some patients die within 28 days after a positive nucleic acid test is due to a disease or condition that is not related to the new coronavirus. Nevertheless, they are still included in the official daily data. When there are a large number of people who test positive—as in December and January—the number of people who test positive but die from other causes increases.
After a period of great differences, the gap between the two ways of calculating the number of deaths has begun to narrow.
Information source BBC, ukalfa.cn
