There are similarities between colds and novel coronavirus pneumonia. In the early stages, novel coronavirus will have cold symptoms such as sneezing, runny nose, fever, sore throat, and can also present with malaise or diarrhea, but symptoms of novel coronavirus pneumonia will appear after a week. The common cold usually resolves itself in a week and less often pulmonary symptoms appear. Patients with colds, whose resistance is weak, can become infected when exposed to patients with novel coronavirus pneumonia and progress to the level of pneumonia. This is why the two can be confused at first, but after a week there is a clear difference. Pneumonia with novel coronavirus infection is clearly diagnosed by nucleic acid testing or chest CT, and there is a clear distinction between the two. Content source: Dr. Yurei