COVID-19: Six new coronavirus symptoms just officially added to CDC list + how the virus attacks the lungs

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has tripled the number of coronavirus symptoms it lists on its website. The federal organization previously listed fever, cough and shortness of breath as symptoms of COVID-19. The CDC has added six additional symptoms as people “have had a wide range of symptoms reported,” it says on its website. New symptoms for the disease now include “chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat and new loss of taste or smell,” the CDC said.

There are more than 869,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus and nearly 50,000 deaths in the United States, according to Johns Hopkins University, but this is the first time the CDC has increased the number of signs of the disease.

Those who have “trouble breathing, persistent pain or pressure in their chest, new confusion or inability to arouse or have bluish lips or face” should seek immediate medical attention, according to the CDC. The new symptoms have been reported by many people who have had the virus. Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert, who was one of the first North American athletes to be diagnosed with the disease, said after testing positive he hadn’t “been able to smell anything for the last 4 days.”

Why ICU for COVID-19 cases may be a death sentence: Research shows that patients that go on ventilators within the first 24 hours of having breathing difficulties only have a 32% rate of survival. 

Cara Vidano, a California woman who suspected she had the virus last month after her boyfriend had a confirmed case, said her legs “were so sore. It was like we had run a long-distance race,” she told the Press Democrat. CNN reporter Chris Cuomo was among those who reported having chills. He said he was shivering so much that he chipped a tooth. Other symptoms for coronavirus may include diarrhea, skin rash, runny nose, red eyes, and fatigue.  –Sac Bee

A Kentucky nurse says her bout with the coronavirus was so bad it made her feel like her “bones were breaking,” according to a report. Meghan Harpole, a 43-year-old assistant nurse manager, said she came down in late March with a series of excruciating symptoms that made her question whether she would beat the virus, the Louisville Courier-Journal reported. “I thought I was going to die,” she said. Her cough was so intense that it made her throw up, and for days, she also experienced high fevers, diarrhea and at one point was choking on her own phlegm, the outlet reported.

“My body hurt so bad, it felt like my bones were breaking,” Harpole told the paper. Her health took an even worse turn when she noticed her oxygen dropped on a pulse monitor to 87%. “All of a sudden, I started seeing the patients I take care of and the patients on the news,” she said. “They go in and get intubated. Oh my God, this is it. I may not make it. I may be on a ventilator. I may not be able to see my son for weeks.” She went to the emergency room, where X-rays showed that she had developed pneumonia in her lung, the outlet said.

But she was afraid to stay since her son was home alone and showing signs of the virus, the newspaper reported. Doctors agreed to let her go home with oxygen, breathing treatments and antibiotics, she said. Harpole hasn’t been cleared yet of the virus, but she says she appears now to be on the mend, the newspaper reported.  –NY Post