COVID-19 Changes Its Symptoms

COVID-19 symptoms have started to change, Moscow health system experts say.

One of the new signs of COVID now is runny nose. Often people get confused by a runny nose and high temperature because think they have contracted the flu. 

«A new symptom of COVID-19 is a severe runny nose; we haven’t seen it before. Some people believe that COVID is getting less dangerous which is a false belief; the infection mutates with incredible speed. For instance, last year we saw a patient get sick with pneumonia on the seventh day; now it might happen after just three days,» said Dmitry Belyakov, head of the union of paramedics and ambulance service workers in Moscow. 

Another new symptom is a sore and itchy throat. Moreover, people sick with COVID have a long-lasting cough.

The doctor has also noted some neurological symptoms: dizziness, headache and fatigue. If such a patient tries to get up quickly he can lose his consciousness. All these symptoms can appear on the second day and last for weeks, Belyakov added.

Once the disease hurts the central nervous system, a patient can temporarily lose his senses of hearing and smelling.

On top of that, all the other symptoms which have been reported since the beginning of the pandemic including stomachache and diarrhea are still there. Sometimes patients struggle eating even soup or porridge; nausea and vomiting are possible as well.

Because of mutation and more aggressive variants, COVID can now easily hurt children who were almost free of the disease last year. There is a risk of serious sickness if a young patient under one year of age or above 15 (these two groups of babies and teenagers are most vulnerable) has any kind of pathology, Moscow health officials said.