Symptoms
There are many individuals who have contracted the virus and never showed symptoms; however, they were still capable of spreading the virus to others. Individuals can have the virus manifest differently, but the following symptoms are characteristic of the virus and will occur 2-14 days after infection:
- Fever or chills
- Cough or shortness of breath
- Muscle pain or body aches
- Headaches
- Sore throat
- Recent loss of taste or smell
- Congestion or runny nose
- Nausea or vomiting
- Diarrhea
Children infected with COVID-19 generally display milder symptoms than adults. Their symptoms can include:
- A persistent fever
- Abdominal pain, vomiting or diarrhea
- Pink eye and rashes on the skin
- Trouble breathing
- Drowsiness or confusion
Diagnosing COVID-19
If you are displaying any symptoms of COVID-19, or suspect you may have been exposed, it is recommended that you get tested. Appointments can be booked online, and there are testing centers available across the province. Once you arrive at your appointment, it is a simple nasal swab, which is followed by laboratory testing. The type of testing is reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Results will be supplied in the coming days, and if it is a positive result, Health Canada will be in contact with you to provide information on how to limit spreading the virus.
Although this method of diagnosis has proved to be critical in identifying cases of COVID-19, it is not always perfect. This test has been determined to be successful in 95% of the tests that have been examined, the other 5% of tests that are unsuccessful may be due to:
- False positive: indicates that the individual has COVID-19 when they do not. They usually arise due to contamination of the chemicals used, or cross-contamination of a virus with a similar genetic outline.
- False negatives: indicates that the individual does not have COVID-19 when they do. These may occur due to a failing of a chemical used, an unsuccessful nasal swab, or the individual received testing before the virus fully developed in their body.