The following points may help diagnose the patients with COVID-19, if they present with symptoms of fever and cough.

Early symptoms of COVID-19 include:

• Fever
• Dry cough
• Fatigue

It may further advance to pneumonia, respiratory failure, septic shock, and death. Cytokine release syndrome or a cytokine storm may be the reason behind such complications.

The complications that need immediate medical help-

• breathing difficulty or shortness of breath
• Chest pain or pressure
• New confusion
• Unable to wake up fully
• Bluishness in lips or face

 The symptom frequency in the COVID-19 patients can be summarized as-

• Fever 83%-99%
• Cough 59%-82%
• Fatigue 44%-70%
• Lack of appetite 40%-84%
• Shortness of breath 31%-40%
• Mucus/phlegm 28%-33%
• Body aches 11%-35%

DIFFERENTIATIG COLD/ FLU/ALLERGIES/COVID-19

Source: Jain MS, Dr. Barhate SD. Corona viruses are a family of viruses that range from the common cold to MERS corona virus: A Review. Asian J. Res. Pharm. Sci. 2020; 10(3):204-210. DOI: 10.5958/2231-5659.2020.00039.9