Researchers have indicated that symptoms of fatigue, headache, sore throat and diarrhoea should be added with the three main approved symptoms of Covid: cough, cold and loss of smell/taste by the government now, reports BBC.

This could lead to people who have not got affected by the virus also having to go through the test.

The Zoe Symptom team was the first batch of people who speculated that “loss of smell/taste” could be an important symptom of Covid19.

The team reported this particular symptom by verifying with the people’s symptoms on their app, who were tested positive. This led to the entry of “loss of smell/taste” in the official Covid19 list of symptoms.

The researchers studied the data of 120,000 people who have accounts in Zoe’s application, of which 1,200 were tested positive. During the analysis of this data, the team reported seven symptoms, which would require a person to have proper PCR test, if they have even one of them.

“A "pragmatic" approach was needed, with those living in areas with high levels of the virus treating those wider symptoms with more suspicion than those in low-Covid areas”, said GP Dr Margaret McCartney told BBC Radio 4's Inside Health programme.

Their concern is that the system might be affected, for example, if people with minor symptoms like just a little headache end up going to the covid testing labs.

According to Professor Tim Spector, one of the heads of the project, they knew since the beginning that just focusing on the three main symptoms would lead to many cases of Covid being overlooked.

He urged people to get tested if they are feeling unwell suddenly as this might mean they have Covid. He further asks people to be aware of these Covid symptoms as variants are increasing in the UK and other parts of the world.

The Zoe team has a firm belief in their strategy of testing a number of people who might not necessarily have covid. They have seen a rise of 46 negative tests for every positive, to 95 negatives for every case identified if the seven symptoms were taken into consideration.

Cough, sore throat, fatigue, and muscle pain are the symptoms that could be found common in people who were tested positive for the UK Coronavirus variant, suggest study by Office for National Statistics.

Those with no symptoms, or symptoms outside of those three, may be able to access rapid testing through their local council or their workplace.

(Written with inputs from BBC News)