- Although most COVID-19 symptoms are mild, there are some emergency symptoms that warrant immediate medical attention.
- Some of these warning signs, according to the CDC, contain problems with breathing, confusion and the inability to stay awake.
- To date, the U.S. has seen more than 24.5 million cases of coronavirus and more than 408,000 deaths.
As the U.S. still sees nearly 200,000 new coronavirus infections a day, it is just as important as ever for people to know the common COVID-19 symptoms. And because COVID symptoms tend to reflect symptoms commonly seen with flu, it is just as important for people to get tested for the virus if they have been exposed to someone who may experience it or if they notice symptoms.
Although many of the more common COVID symptoms are now almost all known (i.e. fever, chills, cough, body aches, the sudden loss of taste and smell, fatigue), there are some COVID warning signs that justify immediate medical attention. .
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According to the CDC, there are five coronavirus symptoms that should prompt someone to call 911 or go immediately to a nearby emergency room. This list contains:
- Problems with breathing
- Persistent pain or pressure in the chest
- New confusion
- Inability to wake up or stay awake
- Bluish lips or face
The CDC adds that if you manifest any of the above symptoms, you should tell the 911 operator or your doctor that you may have COVID.
“This list is not all possible symptoms,” says the CDC. “Please call your medical provider for any other serious symptoms you are experiencing.”
While many people who experience COVID are asymptomatic or show mild symptoms, a severe case of the coronavirus is particularly nasty and can wreak havoc throughout the patient’s body. Apart from lung and heart damage, many COVID patients indicated that they experienced persistent symptoms weeks and even months after initial diagnosis. This phenomenon has been classified as Long COVID and has been shown to have a detrimental cognitive impact in addition to physical symptoms.
One study done late last year found that the cognitive decline in some Long COVID patients who initially needed hospitalization was equivalent to the aging of the brain by ten years. Some specific cognitive symptoms include memory problems, difficulty concentrating on specific tasks, confusion, and even minor personality changes.
Suffice it to say that the coronavirus is at its worst an extremely nasty and dangerous virus and that people need to know when medical help is of the utmost importance.
As it looks now, January is becoming the worst month of the entire pandemic, a dynamic that many health experts have predicted due to Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Despite the CDC urging everyone to stay home, millions of Americans warned of the wind and traveled home in December. It is therefore no surprise that the US started to see a huge increase in the infection rate from late December to early January.
With February around the corner, the good news is that the infection rate is finally starting to drop. While the total number of new cases is still between 180 and 200,000, the infection rate has decreased by almost 17% over the past two weeks. That, coupled with what we can only hope will be an accelerated vaccination program, will ideally help the U.S. achieve herd immunity this summer.
Yoni Heisler is a lifelong Mac user and Apple enthusiast and has been writing about Apple and the technology industry for over 6 years. His writing has appeared in Edible Apple, Network World, MacLife, Macworld UK and most recently in TUAW. If he does not write and analyze the latest events with Apple, he likes to catch Improv programs in Chicago, play football and cultivate new addiction to TV programs, the latest examples of which are The Walking Dead and Broad City .