This lets doctors focus on people who are more seriously ill and protects health care workers and people you might meet along the way. If you don't feel well, stay home. Even if you have mild symptoms like a headache and runny nose, stay in until you're better.
If you live in or have traveled to an area where COVID-19 is spreading: Some people who are hospitalized for COVID-19 also have dangerous blood clots, including in their legs, lungs, and arteries. It varies from person to person.Īccording to researchers in China, these were the most common symptoms among people who had COVID-19: If you're infected, symptoms can show up in as few as 2 days or as many as 14. Time. Every minute counts when someone shows signs of a stroke.Speech. Can they speak clearly? Ask them to repeat a sentence.Arms. Is one arm weak or numb? If they try to raise both arms, does one arm sag?.Face. Is one side of the person's face numb or drooping? Is their smile lopsided?.Strokes have also been reported in some people who have COVID-19. Trouble breathing or shortness of breath.If you notice the following severe symptoms in yourself or a loved one, get medical help right away: They can kill tissue and damage your organs. In some cases, lung transplants have been needed. This is when an infection triggers your immune system to flood your bloodstream with inflammatory proteins called cytokines. Many COVID-19 complications may be caused by a condition known as cytokine release syndrome or a cytokine storm. The virus can lead to pneumonia, respiratory failure, heart problems, liver problems, septic shock, and death. There are many factors, including the public's efforts to slow the spread, researchers' work to learn more about the virus, their search for a treatment, and the success of the vaccines. There's no way to tell how long the pandemic will continue. Throughout the pandemic, scientists have kept a close eye on variants like: There are several variants that are now spreading, some proving to be more contagious as well as more deadly than the original virus. It is also normal for a virus to change, or mutate, as it infects people and this virus has done so. They think one may cause more cases of the disease than the other, but they're still working on what it all means. The S type is older, but the L type was more common in early stages of the outbreak. Is there more than one strain of SARS-CoV-2?Īn early Chinese study of 103 COVID-19 cases found two strains, which they named L and S.
The other coronaviruses cause most of the colds that affect us during the year but aren't a serious threat for otherwise healthy people. SARS-CoV-2 is one of seven types of coronavirus, including the ones that cause severe diseases like Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and sudden acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
It spreads the same way other coronaviruses do, mainly through person-to-person contact. It can affect your upper respiratory tract ( sinuses, nose, and throat) or lower respiratory tract (windpipe and lungs). The outbreak quickly spread around the world.ĬOVID-19 is a disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 that can trigger what doctors call a respiratory tract infection. In early 2020, after a December 2019 outbreak in China, the World Health Organization identified SARS-CoV-2 as a new type of coronavirus. What Is COVID-19?Ī coronavirus is a kind of common virus that causes an infection in your nose, sinuses, or upper throat. Editor's note: For the latest updates on the 2021 coronavirus outbreak, see our news coverage.