Reported illnesses have ranged from people with mild symptoms to people being severely ill and dying.

Symptoms can include:

• Fever
• Cough
• Shortness of breath

Typical Symptoms

COVID-19 typically causes flu-like symptoms including a fever and cough.

In some patients - particularly the elderly and others with other chronic health conditions - these symptoms can develop into pneumonia, with chest tightness, chest pain, and shortness of breath.

It seems to start with a fever, followed by a dry cough.

After a week, it can lead to shortness of breath, with about 20% of patients requiring hospital treatment.

Notably, the COVID-19 infection rarely seems to cause a runny nose, sneezing, or sore throat (these symptoms have been observed in only about 5% of patients). Sore throat, sneezing, and stuffy nose are most often signs of a cold.

80% of cases are mild

Based on all 72,314 cases of COVID-19 confirmed, suspected, and asymptomatic cases in China as of February 11, a paper by the Chinese CCDC released on February 17 and published in the Chinese Journal of Epidemiology has found that:

• 80.9% of infections are mild (with flu-like symptoms) and can recover at home.
• 13.8% are severe, developing severe diseases including pneumonia and shortness of breath.
• 4.7% as critical and can include: respiratory failure, septic shock, and multi-organ failure.
• in about 2% of reported cases the virus is fatal.
• Risk of death increases the older you are.
• Relatively few cases are seen among children.

Pre-existing conditions

Pre-existing illnesses that put patients at higher risk:

1. cardiovascular disease
2. diabetes
3. chronic respiratory disease
4. hypertension

That said, some otherwise healthy people do seem to develop a severe form of pneumonia after being infected by the virus. The reason for this is being investigated as we try to learn more about this new virus.

Examples of possible development of symptoms (from actual cases)

A man in his 40s in Japan:

• Day #1: malaise and muscle pain
• later diagnosed with pneumonia

A man in his 60s in Japan:

• Day #1: initial symptoms of low-grade fever and sore throat.

A man in his 40s in Japan:

• Day #1: chills, sweating and malaise
• Day #4: fever, muscle pain and cough

A woman in her 70s, in Japan:

• Day #1: 38° fever for a few minutes
• Day #2-3: went on a bus tour
• Day #5: visited a medical institution
• Day #6: showed symptoms of pneumonia.

A woman in her 40s, in Japan:

• Day #1: low-grade fever
• Day #2: 38° fever
• Day #6: being treated at home.

A man in his 60s, in Japan:

• Day #1: Cold
• Day #6: Fever of 39° C. (102.2 F)
• Day #8: Pneumonia

Another patient, in China with a history of type 2 diabetes and hypertension:

• Jan. 22: Fever and cough
• Feb. 5: Died

First death in the Philippines (a 44-year-old Chinese thought to have had other pre-existing health conditions):

• Jan. 25: Fever, cough, and sore throat (hospitalized)
• Developed severe pneumonia
• Feb. 2: Died

How long do symptoms last?

Using available preliminary data, the Report of the WHO-China Joint Mission published on Feb. 28 by WHO, which is based on 55,924 laboratory confirmed cases, observed the following median time from symptoms onset to clinical recovery:

• mild cases: approximately 2 weeks
• severe or critical disease: 3 - 6 weeks
• time from onset to the development of severe disease (including hypoxia): 1 week

Among patients who have died, the time from symptom onset to outcome ranges from 2 - 8 weeks.

Information on Coronavirus Symptoms from Government Health Officials:

Canada Public Health Agency

The Canadian PHAC section dedicated to the 2019 novel coronavirus states that:

• You may have little to no symptoms.
• You may not know you have symptoms of COVID-19 because they are similar to a cold or flu.
• Symptoms may take up to 14 days to appear after exposure to the virus. This is the longest known infectious period for this virus.

Symptoms have included:

• fever
• cough
• difficulty breathing
• pneumonia in both lungs

In severe cases, infection can lead to death.

UK Government and NHS

The UK National Health Service lists the following as the main symptoms of coronavirus:

• a cough
• a high temperature
• shortness of breath

The GOV.UK novel coronavirus guidance for the public page says:

• Typical symptoms of coronavirus include fever and a cough that may progress to a severe pneumonia causing shortness of breath and breathing difficulties.

The GOV.UK clinical guidance on Novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV): epidemiology, virology and clinical features notes that:

• Fever, cough or chest tightness, and dyspnoea are the main symptoms reported. While most cases report a mild illness, severe are also being reported, some of whom require intensive care.

Australian Government

The Australian Government Department of Health informs that symptoms can range from mild illness to pneumonia, adding that some people will recover easily, while others may get very sick very quickly. According to their list of novel coronavirus symptoms, people may experience:

• fever
• flu-like symptoms such as coughing, sore throat and fatigue
• shortness of breath.
  

  Source: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries