How to distinguish COVID-19 from the common cold? In addition to fever, there are two subtle signs to be considered.

Two subtle signs deserve the most attention: "dyspnea" and "the seventh day after starting quarantine "

The Important Feature of COVID-19: Dyspnea

For ordinary people, we must pay attention to this sign: whether there is tachypnea or dyspnea.

Influenza and new pneumonia have similar initial symptoms. It is really difficult to distinguish them only by fever, headache, muscle weakness, general malaise, and other symptoms. However, during this epidemic, most patients were accompanied by lower respiratory tract infection symptoms such as dyspnea.

If you find yourself suffering from dyspnea and tachypnea after "catching a cold", you should be alert to the infection.

The seventh day after starting quarantine is very important. The incubation period is related to severe symptoms.

Another subtle sign is mentioned in the latest "Diagnosis and Treatment Plan for Pneumonia Infected in Novel Coronavirus (Trial Fourth Edition)" issued by the National Health Commission:

Based on the current epidemiological investigation, the incubation period usually lasts for 3-7 days, while severe cases usually have dyspnea after one week.

新型肺炎和感冒如何区分？除了发烧，还有 2 个关键细节2 个细节最值得关注：「呼吸困难」和「第 7 天」

1. 新型冠状病毒肺炎的重要特征：呼吸困难

对普通人来说，一定要重视这个细节：是否有呼吸急促、呼吸困难的情况。

流感和新型肺炎初期症状类似，仅仅靠发热、头痛、肌肉乏力、全身不适等症状，确实比较难区别。但在此次新型冠状病毒肺炎中，多数患者伴有呼吸困难等下呼吸道感染症状。

如果发现自己在「感冒」之后，还出现了呼吸困难、呼吸急促的情况，就应当警惕。

2. 第 7 天很重要，潜伏期和重症表现都相关

国家卫健委最新发布的《新型冠状病毒感染的肺炎诊疗方案（试行第四版）》中提到另一个细节：

基于目前的流行病学调查，潜伏期一般为 3～7 天，而重型病例多在一周后出现呼吸困难。

(Executive Editor: Ye Ke, Shang Ruofei)