ISLANDERS are being warned about a new symptom of coronavirus that affects smell and taste.

The COVID-19 test and trace app will be updated to include 'anosmia'.

That is the offical name for the loss of - or a change to - your senses of smell and taste.

It will now sit alongside a continuous dry cough and a high temperature, as a tell-tale sign of coronavirus and if you have experienced it, you will need to take action.

The new advice says: "From today (Monday), all individuals should self-isolate if they develop either a new continuous cough or fever, or feel a loss or changed sense of normal smell or taste."

Isle of Wight County Press:

Until it is updated, app users on the Isle of Wight should continue to use it to report if they have a high temperature or new, continuous cough.

The app is expected to be updated in the next couple of days to reflect the change. 

Read more here: Statement from the UK Chief Medical Officers on an update to coronavirus symptoms: 18 May 2020

NHSX representative, Dr Lewis said: "The response from the Isle of Wight has exceeded my expectations. 

"The latest figures I've been given show 53,500 downloads from people with an Isle of Wight postal district, which by my calculations is about 40 per cent of the total population of the Island.  

"We don't have confirmed figures for how many smart phones there are on the Island, but I think well over half the people with a compatible phone have installed the app. 

"We're using the Isle of Wight phase to learn and improve. 

"We're learning, both in terms of the technical way in which the app operates, and also from different parts of the economy of the Island - on how it works in different workplaces."