COVID-19

Find out more about COVID-19, access our resources, and read patient stories.

Last Update 09/10/2024

What is COVID-19?


Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more serious diseases such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV).

COVID-19 or coronavirus disease 2019 is caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2. This is a new strain of coronavirus that has not been seen in humans until now. It was first linked to Wuhan’s South China Seafood City market in December 2019.

The virus has spread worldwide and was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on 11 March 2020.

Symptoms


The symptoms of COVID-19 can vary from person to person, but there are some symptoms that are more common than others.

Up to half of all people who get COVID-19 will have mild symptoms or not show any symptoms at all.

Mild symptoms may include
  • Feeling very tired
  • A fever (temperature over 38C)
  • Headaches
  • A sore or scratchy throat
  • Loss of smell
  • Loss of taste
Moderate symptoms may include
  • A fever (temperature over 38C)
  • Aching muscles
  • An ongoing cough
  • Feeling breathless
  • Headaches
  • Feeling very tired
  • Loss of appetite
  • Loss of smell
  • Loss of taste
  • Diarrhoea
Severe symptoms

The most severe complication of a COVID-19 infection is pneumonia. This means that the infection is in the lungs. Feeling very breathless might be the worst symptom.

In COVID-19, unlike some other lung infections, the symptoms are often at their worst about 1 week after the symptoms start and can take 2-3 weeks to improve in severe cases.

You are also likely to experience:

  • A high fever
  • A cough
  • The other symptoms described for moderate infections.

You may also experience:

  • Chest pain
  • Feeling dizzy
  • Feeling confused

COVID-19 patient advisory group

Would you like to contribute to new research on COVID-19? We are looking for people from across Europe to join our Patient Advisory Group to work with several research projects in this area. This will make sure that patients and the public are at the centre of research.

Learn more about our patient advisory groups

Further reading


We have worked with people with a lived experience of COVID-19 to contribute to the ERS Monograph on COVID-19 An Update. The ERS Monograph is the quarterly book series from the European Respiratory Society. Each Monograph covers a specific area of lung health, providing in-depth reviews that give healthcare professionals at all levels a guide to symptoms, diagnosis and treatment. This is one of our activities that ensures patients’ views are heard by healthcare professionals and are at the heart of future healthcare.
Please note, these are paid-for publications. Electronic versions of the Monographs and Handbooks can be purchased via ebooks.com or Google Play. Print copies of the Monographs and Handbooks are available at ersbookshop.com.

Further information

If you have any questions or concerns about COVID-19, please refer to our Q&A. If you do not find the answer to your question, please contact us using the button below. We are receiving a large number of questions about COVID-19, so we are unable to respond directly to these emails. We will combine the questions that we receive, and these will be updated on the Q&A section of the website regularly.