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| A woman wearing a protective face mask walks past the front of a closed florist in London |
The United Kingdom has added the loss of smell and taste to its official list of COVID-19 symptoms including fever and new continuous cough โ a step that it hopes could help pick up more cases of the novel coronavirus.
โFrom today, all individuals should self-isolate if they develop a new continuous cough or fever or anosmia,โ the United Kingdomโs four chief medical officers said in a joint statement.
โAnosmia is the loss or a change in your normal sense of smell. It can also affect your sense of taste as the two are closely linked.โ
Other possible symptoms of COVID-19 include fatigue, diarrhea, abdominal pain, or loss of appetite, but have not been included in the basic case definition.
By adding anosmia the sensitivity of new case pick-up could increase to 94 percent from 91 percent with just new cough and fever, said Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, Englandโs deputy chief medical officer.
When asked why the United Kingdom has lagged other countries in including the loss of smell in its official list, Van-Tam said: โThe question is: Which of those symptoms actually make the interception of cases better or worse?โ
REUTERS
