Most people know the symptoms of COVID-19: dry coughing, shortness of breath, and fever, along with headache, shaking, chills, and loss of the sense of taste or smell. Doctors at Minnesota Health say “If you are having a hard time breathing, that is a sign that you or a family member should contact a medical provider,” Kline said. Other emergency warning signs can include persistent pain or pressure in the chest, new confusion or inability to arouse, and bluish lips or face. The signs appear two to fourteen days after
exposure to the disease, but they stress that every patient is different.
According to the New York Times,* here are some ways that people how have come down with the disease have described the experience:
- “I felt like there was an heavyweight sitting on my chest.”
- I had onions cooking in the pot but I couldn’t smell them.”
- “Like someone inside my head was trying to push my eyes out.”
- The fever went away, but I had nausea and a metallic taste in my mouth
- “Just the simple act of getting up and having a shower was tiring.”
- “I felt so beat up, like I had been in a boxing ring with Mike Tyson.”
- “You keep wondering the whole time, ‘Is this it?’”
Of these people who caught the virus – many with serious cases – all of these have recovered!
Rewrite by Globe Times Staff Reporter.
New York Times Coronavirus Update, May 6, 2020.