Symptoms of COVID:
Day by Day
Epicentre News • 11 August 2020
Coming down with a COVID infection is a scary thing. We’ve all heard how different each person’s infection can be but Epicentre is going to share what symptoms you can expect for each day of your infection; and we are also going to show you some common symptoms our COVID positive patients have identified. We have also included the serious symptoms of COVID – to let you know what to watch out for.
Day by Day Symptoms of a COVID Infection
Day (-)5: Patient’s contact with the COVID-19 virus happens. Over 5 days, the infection will slowly build up in their body. It is only after these 5 days of development that their infection will officially ‘begin’.
Day 0-2: 5 days after their initial ‘exposure’ to the COVID virus, their infection will officially ‘happen’. In these first 2 days:They will become highly contagious in those first 2-3 days, but will show no symptoms.
You can test at this point because your infection has officially begun.
Day 3: This is when symptoms usually appear.
But for 80% of people, they will have no symptoms or a mild case of COVID-19.
Day 5-7: from day 5 to 7 is a very important time for people to keep an eye on their symptoms because it is at this point that many people go into hospital if they have a serious case of the virus.
Some patients may have a “mild” case of the disease in the very beginning, but their symptoms may get worse over the course of the first week or more & then they may need hospitalization.
Those who need hospitalization normally reach this point of requiring health support on day 5 to 7 of officially having the virus (Wang, et al).
Patients should be on the lookout for any serious symptoms. If patients experience any of these symptoms, they should immediately contact their doctor.
These patients need to take a copy of their positive COVID-19 results & get checked again at a healthcare facility.
Day 10 -14: If you had a mild case and are symptom free,
You should watch your symptoms between day 10 to 14.
If you continue to have no symptoms, (according to our research) you can stop isolating.
Epicentre COVID Positive Symptoms
Before each test, we send out a patient form that we’ve used to chart the most common symptoms of the COVID positive.
We’ve surveyed all of our patients and our positive patients are reporting that:
1. First place (unsurprisingly to some) is a cough.
3. Third place is a tie between a fever and a headache.
4. Fourth place goes to a sore throat, which may be surprising to be so low on the list to some
5. Fifth place is a three-way tie between the loss of appetite, fatigue (tiredness) and none of the above (which suggests they are either only experiencing unique symptoms or no symptoms at all)
Dr Carmen’s Serious COVID Symptoms:
Dr Carmen explains in her video that a COVID infection is dangerous because it can develop into pneumonia. This can happen suddenly, and we want to catch it quickly to give patients the best possible chance of recovery (which is the case for most patients).
The warning signs you need to be on the lookout for are:
✔ Being unable to drink or hydrate yourself
✔ Not being able to pee or peeing very little at a time
✔ Coughing up phlegm (spit) that is very thick and has changed colour (it is now very dark)
✔ & an uncontrollable fever
If you have tested positive for COVID and you experience these warning signs, phone your doctor immediately. If you need to go to the hospital, call ahead and tell them you are coming and bring your proof of a COVID positive diagnosis.
If you have not tested for COVID and you are experiencing these symptoms, book a test as soon as possible and contact your doctor for further help.
References
- Piguillem, F., & Shi, L. (2020). Optimal COVID-19 quarantine and testing policies.
- Asadi, S., Bouvier, N., Wexler, A. S., & Ristenpart, W. D. (2020). The coronavirus pandemic and aerosols: Does COVID-19 transmit via expiratory particles?.
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