A LEADING ear, nose and throat specialist says there are new symptoms for coronavirus.

Professor Nirmal Kumar said that a loss of smell and taste could also be a sign that you have the virus.

The British Association of Otorhinolaryngology (ENT UK) has also said that this could be a sign in asymptomatic patients who do not have a fever or a cough.

But another leading medic has warned there has not been enough research to test this theory.

"There are patients who are presenting with a loss of sense of smell and taste, which is suggesting that even in patients who have no symptoms of cough and fever, they may be carrying the virus," said Professor Kumar, a consultant otolaryngologist and head and neck surgeon.

"That means they should also self-isolate. That is the new evidence that is coming and in other countries this has already been introduced."

The British Association of Otorhinolaryngology (ENT UK) said: "Evidence from other countries that the entry point for the coronavirus is often in the eyes, nose and throat areas. We have also identified a new symptom (loss of sense of smell and taste) that may mean that people without other symptoms but with just the loss of this sense may have to self-isolate."

But current Public Health England guidelines says that a high temperature or new continuous cough are the only symptoms to trigger self-isolation. And Dr Nathalie MacDermott, clinical lecturer at King's College London, warned that research around the new symptoms for COVID-19 isn't yet widespread in the medical community.