A runny nose should be considered a symptom of Covid’s, the doctors said.
A group of more than 140 doctors, writing in the British Medical Journal, is asking the medical director to include symptoms like a runny or stuffy nose, muscle aches and headaches as criteria for a test.
They say they are currently having to encourage patients who have found to have coronavirus to lie about their symptoms in order to access a test, which means that many cases are being missed.
Dr. Alex Sohal, East London GP and lecturer at Queen Mary University of London, said she is regularly screening patients with mild symptoms – for example, runny or stuffy nose, sore throat, hoarseness, muscle pain, fatigue and headache – who later turned out to be positive Covid.
She writes: “These patients often did not even consider that they may have Covid-19 and did not isolate themselves in the crucial first few days, when they were most infectious.”
Some patients are now being encouraged to be dishonest to access Covid-19 tests, she said, in a letter supported by 140 GPs.
“The national advertising campaign focuses on coughing, high temperature and loss of smell or taste as symptoms to watch for – only patients with these symptoms can access a Covid-19 test online through the NHS test reservation website. GPs have to advise patients to be dishonest in order to take the Covid-19 test. “