Symptoms & Early Detection


CDC guidance on exposure risk assessment

Anecdotal reports have indicated that the illness seems to creep up on some patients with what might start out as something comparable to atypical pneumonia and can quickly take a turn for the worse.


Hospitals in New York have been identifying potential cases requiring hospitalization through CT scans. 1
In China in some cases CT scans were used to identify presumptive positives with a low rate (3.9 %) of misdiagnosis. 2
For more information on how COVID-19 presents on CT scans see this anaylsis of 121 patients.

Some have suggested that abdominal pain is an often overlooked early symptom of COVID-19. 3 4 5 In this New York Times video, an NYC nurse reveals patients come in with stomach aches and are identified COVID-19.



Here is a table of symptoms as reported by WHO investigation finalized February 24th. Click here for the report
To view the related press conference on the report click here

Common symptoms by frequency
Fever 88%
Dry cough 68%
Exhaustion 38%
Expectoration of mucus when coughing 33%
Shortness of breath 18%
Sore throat 14%
Headaches 14%
Muscle aches 14%
Muscle aches 14%
Chills 11%
Vomiting 5%
Stuffy nose 5%
Diarrhea 4%

For an in-depth analysis of the WHO’s report visit here


  1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE68xVXf8Kw 

  2. https://www.ajronline.org/doi/10.2214/AJR.20.22954 

  3. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2001191?query=featured_home 

  4. https://www.medpagetoday.com/gastroenterology/generalgastroenterology/85471 

  5. https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/publichealth/84679