Table 2.

Clinical characteristics of the study patients

Comorbidities (N = 75), N (%)	65 (86.6%)
Hypertension	18 (24%)
Cardiovascular disease	9 (12%)
Diabetes	8 (10.6%)
COVID-19-related symptoms (N = 50), N (%)
Common	45 (90%)
Uncommon	6 (12%)
Severe	24 (48%)
From symptoms onset to SARS-CoV-2 testing (N = 50), Median (IQR)
Group 1	19.5 days (9.7–24.7)
Group 2	39 days (29–95)
From illness onset to viral pneumonia on chest X-rays (N = 50), Median (IQR)
Group 1 and 2	6 days (3–7.5)

Data were expressed as medians with inter-quartile ranges (IQRs) for continuous variables and as proportions for categorical variables. Comorbidities data were collected for group 0, 1 and 2, while the time from illness onset to sample collection and to the radiological appearance of viral pneumonia and COVID-19-related symptoms were analyzed only in groups 1 and 2, as group 0 included negative specimens. Symptoms were defined as common (fever higher than 37.8 °C, troublesome dry cough, fatigue), uncommon (diarrhea, headache, muscle pain, nausea, vomiting, chills, dizziness, loss of sense of smell and taste) and severe (breathless on light exertion, chest pain, loss of speech and movement) according to World Health Organization Guidelines for COVID-19