Coronavirus: Testing survey suggests headache and tiredness more common than fever

Does UK need to overhaul its Covid symptom list? Cough, fatigue and headache are most common signs of illness, study claims – but they aren’t all eligible for swab tests

  • ONS report found fewer than half get symptoms before testing positive
  • Cough is the most common, but fever and anosmia further down the list
  • Headache and muscle pains are common but scientists say they’re too vague
  • People aren’t eligible for test in the UK without one of the three main symptoms 
  • Cough, fever or lost/changed sense of smell or taste are only qualifying signs 

Fever and losing the sense of taste or smell are not among the most common symptoms of people who test positive for coronavirus, a testing survey has found. 

People infected with the virus were more likely to feel fatigued or to develop head or muscle aches than to get the tell-tale symptoms.

But people only with those signs of illness would not be able to get a swab test under NHS Test & Trace rules.

Tests are reserved for people who have a new cough, a fever or anosmia – which is a change in, or loss of, their sense of smell or taste. 

Almost half of people don’t get any symptoms at all, the Office for National Statistics said, and a maximum of one in three get the most common sign – a cough.

The Department of Health has already admitted that it only detects around 60 per cent of people with coronavirus through its testing scheme.

Experts and doctors have repeatedly called for more symptoms to be included in the list so more cases can be weeded out.

A broader definition of who is eligible for a swab might increase the positive rate but it could also lead to huge demand from people who have extremely common complaints – for example, only a tiny proportion of people with headaches are likely to have coronavirus and many more will have colds or simply be tired or dehydrated.

Office for National Statistics testing shows that fewer than half of people testing positive for coronavirus had any symptoms at all, with cough the most common at almost 30% in England

Experts and doctors have repeatedly called for more symptoms to be included in the list that make someone eligible for a swab test - which currently only includes cough, fever and lost smell or taste (pictured left, a woman swabs her own throat at a centre in West Ealing, London)

Experts and doctors have repeatedly called for more symptoms to be included in the list that make someone eligible for a swab test – which currently only includes cough, fever and lost smell or taste (pictured left, a woman swabs her own throat at a centre in West Ealing, London)

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