Everyone aged five and over with Covid-19 symptoms can get tested, Hancock says

Health Secretary Matt Hancock drastically increased the number of people who can get tested for Covid-19 across the UK on Monday, with the Government trying to track the spread of the disease in order to ease the lockdown.

His announcement in the House of Commons came after the UK's chief medical officers added the loss of, or noticeable change to, taste and smell to the NHS's list of coronavirus symptoms, weeks after experts first raised concerns that cases were being missed.

Anyone suffering the newly-added symptoms, or a continuous cough or high fever, should self-isolate for seven days to risk the spread of infection, and anyone they live with should stay home for 14 days.

Previously only essential workers, the over-65s and individuals who live with them could apply for coronavirus testing on the NHS website if they were showing symptoms.

Mr Hancock said he was "expanding eligibility for testing further than ever before" as ministers try to hit the new goal of having the ability to carry out 200,000 tests per day by the end of the month.

"I can announce to the House that everyone aged five and over with symptoms is now eligible for a test," he told MPs. "That applies right across the UK in all four nations from now."

Mr Hancock also said that 21,000 contact tracers, including 7,500 health care professionals, had been recruited in England to help track people who have come into contact with infected individuals.

The tracers will advise them whether they need to enter self-isolation in an effort to drive down the spread of the virus, as the Government eases the restrictions imposed on the public.

Along with the NHS app being "successfully piloted", Mr Hancock said ministers now have the "elements we need to roll out" the test and trace programme.

But he said the Government is "perfectly prepared to hire more" tracers after surpassing the target of employing 18,000.

Downing Street said earlier that the app would be up and running in the coming weeks in England, even though Mr Hancock said last week it would be rolled out in mid May.

Regarding symptoms, until now the NHS 111 coronavirus symptom checker has only listed high temperature and cough as the symptoms that require further action.

England's deputy chief medical officer, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, told reporters adding loss of smell and taste to the list would mean 94% of cases where people have symptoms are now picked up, a rise from 91% previously.

It comes after a study led by Professor Tim Spector at King's College London found that 59% of Covid-19-positive patients reported loss of smell and taste, compared with only 18% of those who tested negative for the disease.

Speaking about the findings on April 1, Prof Spector called for the rules to change, saying those with a loss of smell or taste needed to self-isolate.

On Monday he heavily criticised the Government's stance so far, saying infected people had been encouraged back to work due to a failure to track symptoms properly.

He said 50,000 to 70,000 people in the UK with Covid-19 were currently not being told to self-isolate, even though they had the virus.

He blamed Public Health England (PHE) and the wider strategy, saying an insistence that only fever and cough were the major symptoms had missed thousands of cases.

He added that there are even more symptoms, such as tiredness, stomach pain or diarrhoea, that could be included as possible coronavirus symptoms.

He said: "We list about 14 symptoms which we know are related to having a positive swab test.

"These are not being picked up by the NHS. This country is missing them all and not only underestimating cases, but also putting people at risk and continuing the epidemic."

Speaking after the change, Prof Spector said his team believe close to half of people who go on to test positive for Covid-19 never develop a fever or a cough.

"Public Health England finally adding anosmia (the loss of taste and smell) to its official list of symptoms is a step in the right direction but we feel more symptoms should be added," he said.

It comes as:

- A decision on whether schools will return next month is likely to be made this week, Downing Street hinted

- Coronavirus outbreaks have been reported in almost four in 10 care homes in England, according to Number 10

- Plans to impose a 14-day quarantine on international travellers arriving in the UK will be reviewed every three weeks, Downing Street said

ENT UK, the professional membership body representing ear, nose and throat surgery in the UK, said it had first warned that loss of smell and taste were symptoms of coronavirus eight weeks ago, saying it had shared those details with PHE.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) listed loss of smell and taste as "less common symptoms" several weeks ago and other countries, including the US, added the symptom.

Despite these warnings, Prof Van-Tam said on April 3 that the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag) had looked at the issue and concluded loss of smell or taste should not be added to the UK's symptom list.

But on Monday, that guidance was changed, with Prof Van-Tam saying advisers had needed to look at the issue in detail.

He said scientists had had to "work out very carefully" how valid loss of taste or smell were in counting cases and where in the course of an illness the symptoms might occur.

He said establishing how adding the symptom to the list could help pick up more cases had been "quite a difficult piece of science".

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: "As well as allowing more people to have a case of Covid-19 confirmed, today's expansion will also be helpful as we build towards our strategy of test, trace, isolate and support - something that will be especially important as we start to emerge gradually from lockdown.

"This is vital in order to keep transmission in communities low."