- The novel coronavirus is still spreading, but 80% of confirmed COVID-19 cases are considered "mild."
- Mild cases can still be painful, and there are ways to mitigate your symptoms from home.
For the latest case total, death toll, and travel information, see Business Insider's live updates here.
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Following is a transcript of the video.
Narrator: The COVID-19 coronavirus is still spreading. But while one early study found that 80% of cases are considered mild, the definition of mild can include a range of symptoms and still be painful, even though cases might not require hospitalization.
Rishi Desai: I have mild symptoms, I'm coughing. But am I coughing once every minute, or is it every 10 minutes or five minutes? And if that starts to get more and more frequent, let's say I'm coughing every two minutes, now every one minute, and now I can't even speak to you because I'm running out of breath, those are the things that would trigger me picking up the phone and saying, "Hey, you know what, things are actually worse."
Narrator: That's Dr. Rishi Desai, the chief medical officer at Osmosis. He says fatigue is the most common symptom of the coronavirus, but there are some other ones to watch out for.
Desai: So, typically, it slows you down. It causes fatigue and malaise. You might be less inclined to get up and do work. Maybe a sore throat, so maybe some focal symptoms like that. You can have a runny nose, you can have some congestion in your nose. That inflammation in your nose makes it hard to smell. It can also affect your taste, so, all of a sudden, things that you usually would really enjoy, you're not really enjoying those foods anymore. A lot of what I'm describing, to be perfectly honest, is a lot of the same sort of general symptoms or mild symptoms you get with the common cold.
Narrator: Likewise, the way to mitigate your mild coronavirus symptoms is largely the same way you'd relieve your typical cold.
Desai: For example, you would drink a lot of fluids, you'd make sure those fluids have a little bit of salt and a little bit of sugar in them because that way you get the fluid absorbed into your body. So, a great example of that would be broth or soup. You'd made sure in general you're hydrated and that you're peeing multiple times a day. You'd monitor your fever and see if the fever is getting better or worse. And if it's getting worse, maybe you take a medication like Tylenol. The one thing that's different that you would do with COVID is that you'd monitor your symptoms really closely, because if they're getting worse, then you'd want to call and make sure you get seen.
Narrator: The CDC says that if you're experiencing symptoms you think may be a result of COVID-19, seek medical attention by calling your doctor first. If you have an underlying condition, like diabetes, asthma, cardiovascular disease, or cancer, and you think you might have contracted the coronavirus, Desai says you should be seeking medical attention immediately. For those with mild symptoms, it's extremely important to monitor them.
To prevent the spread of coronavirus, do your best to limit contact with people. Stay vigilant by washing your hands, cleaning the surfaces you use daily, and monitoring your health.
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