Coronavirus Symptoms (COVID-19)

People with COVID-19 have had a wide range of symptoms reported – ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness.These symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus:

• Fever
• Cough
• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• Chills
• Repeated shaking with chills
• Muscle pain
• Headache
• Sore throat
• New loss of taste or smell

  Typical Symptoms

  COVID-19 typically causes flu-like symptoms including a fever and cough.

  In some patients - particularly the elderly and others with other chronic health conditions - these symptoms can develop into pneumonia, with chest tightness, chest pain, and shortness of breath.

  It seems to start with a fever, followed by a dry cough.

  After a week, it can lead to shortness of breath, with about 20% of patients requiring hospital treatment.
  
  Notably, the COVID-19 infection rarely seems to cause a runny nose, sneezing, or sore throat (these symptoms have been observed in only about 5% of patients). Sore throat, sneezing, and stuffy nose are most often signs of a cold.

  80% of cases are mild

  Based on all 72,314 cases of COVID-19 confirmed, suspected, and asymptomatic cases in China as of February 11, a paper by the Chinese CCDC released on February 17 and published in the Chinese Journal of Epidemiology has found that:

  • 80.9% of infections are mild (with flu-like symptoms) and can recover at home.
  • 13.8% are severe, developing severe diseases including pneumonia and shortness of breath.
  • 4.7% as critical and can include: respiratory failure, septic shock, and multi-organ failure.
  • in about 2% of reported cases the virus is fatal.
  • Risk of death increases the older you are.
  • Relatively few cases are seen among children.

    Pre-existing conditions

  • Pre-existing illnesses that put patients at higher risk:

    1. cardiovascular disease
    2. diabetes
    3. chronic respiratory disease
    4. hypertension

    That said, some otherwise healthy people do seem to develop a severe form of pneumonia after being infected by the virus. The reason for this is being investigated as we try to learn more about this new virus.

    Symptoms observed in hospitalized patients with COVID-19

    Below we list the symptoms, with percentages representing the proportion of patients displaying that symptom, as observed in hospitalized patients tested and identified as having laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infection. These findings refer to hospitalized patients, therefore generally representing serious or critical cases. The majority of cases of COVID-19 (about 80%) is mild.

    Findings from the Wang et al study published on JAMA and based on 138 hospitalized patients 

    Common symptoms included:
    Fever	98.6%
    Fatigue	69.6%
    Dry cough	59.4%

    The median time observed:

    • from first symptom to → Dyspnea (Shortness of breath) = 5.0 days
    • from first symptom to → Hospital admission = 7.0 days
    • from first symptom to → ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome) = 8.0 days (when occurring)

    
    
  • Tips from the World Health Organization:

    • Wash your hands frequently.
    • Avoid touching your face.
    • Sneeze and cough into a tissue or your elbow.
    • Avoid crowds and standing near others.
    • Stay home if you think you might be sick.
    • If you have a fever, cough, or difficulty breathing, follow advice given by your government's health authority.