Scientists have produced a day-by-day breakdown of the typical coronavirus symptoms, which can progress from a mild cough to serious respiratory problems in just eight days.
A new study from Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus, describes the complete picture of the progression of COVID-19, which can go from fever and fatigue to shortness of breath.
The analysis includes adults with COVID-19 admitted to Jinyintan Hospital and Wuhan Pulmonary Hospital after December 29, 2019, who had been discharged or died by January 31, 2020.
The average duration of fever – an early sign of COVID-19 – was about 12 days, but a cough associated with the illness may stay around for longer, they found.
45 per cent of the 191 patients who were looked at still had a cough on discharge after the 12-day period.
Dyspnoea – shortness of breath – would cease after about 13 days for those who survive and continue until point of death for those who didn’t.
From illness onset, the average time to discharge was 22 days, and the average time to death was 18.5 days.
A medical worker checking the drip of a patient in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University in Wuhan, Hubei Province
Another team of Wuhan scientists have said the illness can progress from a mild cough to serious respiratory problems in just eight days.
Common symptoms of COVID-19, which has infected more than 170,000 people and killed 6,500 as of Tuesday, include fever, fatigue and a dry cough.
This team of researchers studied 138 patients with the illness at the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University.
They found that the average time from these first symptoms to signs of breathing difficulties was five days.
This was followed by hospital admission at seven days and respiratory failure, requiring a ventilator, after eight days.
Just over a quarter (26 per cent) of the patients required intensive care unit treatment, while the mortality rate was 4.3 per cent – 6 deaths out of the total 138 cases looked at.
Generally, a fever was the most common symptoms among the patients infected with the virus – experienced by 99 per cent of those who took part on the study.
More than half experienced fatigue and a dry cough, while about a third suffered from muscle pain and difficulty breathing.
85 per cent of COVID-19 patients will only experience the first seven days of symptoms, known as ‘phase one’.
However, the remainder will go through phase two, which lasts a further two weeks.
A sign outside Watford General Hospital relating to the coronavirus pandemic. The UK government says coronavirus tests will primarily be given to patients in critical care for pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) or flu like illness
A typical patient may be infected for five days or more without showing symptoms.
Because COVID-19 shares characteristics with the common cold, it’s difficult for people with symptoms know which one they have.
And as the virus escalates in the UK, testing of suspected cases is increasingly focusing on those with respiratory problems and underlying health conditions.
The NHS is currently not testing people who are self-isolating with mild symptoms.
In all, reported illnesses have ranged from mild symptoms to severe illness and death for confirmed COVID-19 cases.
The following is a breakdown of how symptoms progress based on both separate Wuhan hospital studies and other sources.
A Coronavirus Pod outside a hospital in London, Britain, 14 March 2020. According to latest figures there are more than 1,500 cases in the UK, with 55 deaths
Day 1: Patients experience a fever and may also experience fatigue, muscle pain and a dry cough.
A small minority may have had diarrhea or nausea one to two days before, Business Insider reports.
Dr Clare Gerada, 60, a GP in London, and former chair of the Royal College of GPs, said that she started feeling symptoms as a slight dry cough and tiredness.
‘Yet it was so mild to begin with, I barely gave it a second thought.’
Day 5: Patients have difficulty breathing – known as dyspnea – if they are older or have a pre-existing health condition.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that symptoms that occur two to 14 days after exposure are fever, cough and shortness of breath.
In the second Wuhan study, of 138 patients, about 10 per cent experienced diarrhea and nausea a couple of days prior to development of fever and dyspnea.
Day 7: At this point patients showing signs of dyspnea tend to be admitted to hospital.
CDC advises that anyone with emergency warning signs for COVID-19 – persistent chest pain or pressure, shortness of breath and bluish lips or face – should get medical attention.
Day 7 is also the point at which for the vast majority of patients – about 85 per cent – that symptoms start to diminish and coming out of isolation is a possibility, the second study claims.
Government says that if you live with others and you or one of them have symptoms of coronavirus, then all household members must stay at home and not leave the house for 14 days.
The 14-day period starts from the day when the first person in the house became ill.
Day 8: Patients with severe cases develop signs of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) at this point, where the lungs can’t provide the body’s vital organs with enough oxygen.
15 per cent of cases reach this point, according to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Day 10: Patients with worsening breathing problems tend to be entered into an intensive care unit at day 10.
The second Wuhan study also said it observed that the average hospital stay was 10 days.
Day 12: Fever tends to end at around this point, according to the first Wuhan study.
The average duration of fever – an early sign of COVID-19 – was about 12 days, but a cough associated with the illness may stay around for longer, they said.
In survivors of the disease, dyspnoea would cease after about 13 days, while the average time to death was 18.5 days.