Table 1.

Differences between the frequency of signs and symptoms of COVID-19, colds, allergies and flus. Source: Prepared by the authors based on [5].

Sign or Symptom	COVID-19	Cold	Allergies	Flu
Cough	Generally (dry cough)	Generally	Sometimes	Generally
Muscle pain	Generally	Sometimes	Never	Generally
Fatigue	Generally	Sometimes	Sometimes	Generally
Throat pain	Generally	Generally	Rarely	Generally
Blocked or runny nose	Generally	Generally	Generally	Generally
Fever	Generally	Sometimes	Never	Generally—not always
Loss of taste/smell	Generally (initially, often without a blocked nose)	Sometimes (especially with a blocked nose)	Sometimes	Rarely
Shortness of breath/trouble breathing	Generally			Generally
Diarrhoea	Sometimes	Never	Never	Sometimes (more common in children)
Nausea or vomiting	Sometimes	Never	Never	Sometimes (more common in children)
Conjunctivitis	Sometimes		Sometimes
Sneezing	Rarely	Sometimes	Generally
Itchy nose, eyes, mouth, or ears	Never		Generally