The most prominent symptoms of the coronavirus are fever, cough and shortness of breath according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But as the deadly disease spreads throughout the U.S., new symptoms are emerging. Among them is extreme fatigue.
“My bathroom is maybe 15 steps from my bed,” Hedy Bauman, 74, of Silver Spring, Maryland tells NBC NEWS. “I wasn’t sure I could get from my bathroom to my bed.” Bauman developed chills, but no fever.
Her symptoms are consistent with data pushed by the World Health Organization in February stating that nearly 40% of the 56,000 patients studied reported fatigue, according to NBC.
The Hill reports that CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, the brother of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has been tested positive for the virus, revealed that he experienced not only fever, but shivering and hallucinations Tuesday night as he prepared to broadcast from his basement during self-isolation.
“My dad was talking to me,” he said, referring to the late New York Gov. Mario Cuomo who died in 2015. “I was seeing people from college, people I haven’t seen in forever. It was freaky.”
Many patients develop a headache and sore throat while others become nauseous or have diarrhea. The British Rhinological Society reports that some experience a loss of senses and smell while others report loss of appetite.
According to NBC, a small study published in JAMA Ophthalmology noted that COVID-19 patients could develop pink eye, also known as conjunctivitis.
Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the CDC, says as many as 25% of patients have no symptoms at all. The CDC warns that even if a patient isn’t experiencing symptoms, he or she can still spread the virus, although this is rare.
Lynn C. Allison ✉
Lynn C. Allison, a Newsmax health reporter, is an award-winning medical journalist and author of more than 30 self-help books.
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