This is the Guardian. Last week COVID infections were at an all-time high in the UK, driven by the virus variant

B.A2.

The latest O&S infection survey data finds an... by the virus variant B.A2.

The latest O&S infection survey data finds an estimated 4.9 million people in the UK

had COVID last week.

That's up more than half a million on the week before.

And on Friday, April fall's day, free rapid tests were scrapped.

The government has announced an end to free universal testing as part of its living with COVID plan.

Then, on Monday, the UK's official list of COVID symptoms was expanded to include not one, not two, but another nine symptoms.

Say you just woke up and your head feels a little stuffy.

Or maybe your throat's a little bit sore or perhaps you just sneezed is it a cold is it

the flu or is it COVID. It's an interesting confluence of events. But why is the UK decided now two years into the pandemic to add symptoms to its official list?

Symptoms that frankly everyone already knew about.

From the Guardian, I'm Madeline Finley and this is Science Weekly. Linda Gedys, as a Guardian Science Correspondent, you recently reported on the symptoms newly added to the UK's COVID symptom list and I enjoyed the way

that you put it ministers are finally acknowledging what has been patently

obvious since the beginning of the pandemic that people

have been experiencing more than just a high temperature, cough and loss of taste and smell.

So what symptoms have finally made it onto the list?

So in addition to fever, a new continuous cough and loss of smell and taste.

We've got shortness of breath, tiredness or exhaustion, body aches, headache, sore throat,

a blocked or runny nose, loss of appetite, diarrhea and feeling or being sick.

Right, so we've gone from three symptoms, adding nine to make 12, it's quite quite a lot which ones are the most common.

...