I think I have COVID-19, what should I do?

One of the aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic that makes diagnosis and isolation of cases a challenge is that symptoms of COVID-19 can occur with other conditions as well, including common strains of cold and flu. The following graphics can help you interpret your symptoms, but if you think you have been exposed to COVID-19 and develop a fever and severe symptoms, such as difficulty breathing, call your healthcare provider for medical advice, especially if you are at high risk due to age or a pre-existing medical condition.

If you are able to use a telehealth service to get advice it can be a great way to ease the burden on the healthcare system during this crisis. Only visit an emergency department if you have severe symptoms such as shortness of breath.

If you are experiencing mild symptoms at home, use the COVID-19 Symptom Tracker in Health Storylines to monitor your symptoms, and let your healthcare provider know if they get worse or you feel you need support.

Common Symptoms

Here is an example of symptoms associated with COVID-19 based on the experience of 55,924 laboratory-confirmed patients in China.

    • 87.9% had fever

    • 67.7% had dry cough 

    • A third had fatigue (38.1%) and sputum production (33.4%). 

    • Other symptoms recorded were shortness of breath (18.6%), sore throat (13.9%), headache (13.6%), myalgia or arthralgia (joint and muscle pain) (14.8%), chills (11.4%), nausea or vomiting (5%), nasal congestion (4.8%), diarrhea (3.7%), hemoptysis (coughing up of blood) (0.9%) and conjunctival congestion (eye problems) (0.8%)

COVID-19 symptom progression

This is an example of how symptoms may progress based on what patients in Singapore experienced:

  • DAY 1-3 FIRST SYMPTOM: Many studies found out that the median incubation period of COVID-19 is 4 or 5 days. The first symptoms experienced are fever, fatigue and dry cough. Some also experience muscle or joint pain.

    • A very small percentage of patients experienced diarrhea and nausea two or three days before developing fever and difficulty breathing.

    • People who experience any of these symptoms are advised to stay at home and observe. However, if you have recently traveled to a country with local transmission of COVID-19 or have been in contact with a confirmed case then you will be considered a person under investigation.

    • Those with mild symptoms can undergo home quarantine, according to the Department of Health. But those who are elderly, pre-existing conditions (cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, chronic lung disease, and immunosuppression) and severe manifestations such as difficulty breathing should go to a hospital to be tested.

  • DAY 4-6: Around this time, symptoms may have worsened. Some of those infected will start to experience difficulty breathing.

  • DAY 7: Based on a study from Wuhan, China, patients with severe cases, on average, are brought to the hospital by the 7th day. Although another study from Singapore said patients there were admitted to the hospital 4 days after the first symptoms show.

    • Most cases, however, are mild and do not require hospitalization. It is better to consult a doctor if you are experiencing symptoms.

  • DAY 8: Patients with severe or critical cases can develop acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a kind of lung damage that causes fluid to fill the lungs. This can be fatal. Under a CT scan, patients with COVID-19 have lungs that show white patches or “ground glass opacity” because of the fluid.

    • It is around this time that some cases, even those that are mild, are diagnosed as pneumonia.

  • DAY 10: Worsening symptoms such as abdominal pain and anorexia or lack of appetite by Day 10 often result in the patient being admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of the hospital.

    • Some critical cases develop other types of organ dysfunction such as acute cardiac injury acute kidney injury. A few also experience septic shock or liver dysfunction.

    • Only a small fraction of those with COVID-19 develop these severe symptoms. According to the World Health Organization, an average of 81% of the cases are mild, 14% are severe and 5% are critical.

    • The median hospital stay for those who recover, according to a study from Wuhan, is 10 days.

  • DAY 14: According to the joint WHO-China report, mild cases recover within 2 weeks but those with severe or critical disease recover in 3-6 weeks.

At any time if you don’t feel you can manage your symptoms at home, contact a health care professional before going to the emergency department.