ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Spring is in the air. So, too, is the COVID-19 virus.
It was about a year ago around this time that Tampa Bay allergy sufferers asked themselves: That cough and a little bit of congestion... just allergies or coronavirus?
They're symptoms of both, actually.
But doctors say people need to pay close attention to a fever, shortness of breath, diarrhea, joint and muscle aches, or loss of taste and smell. Those are symptoms more associated with COVID-19, not allergies.
The annoying stuff, like sneezing and itchy or watery eyes, that's more so allergies.
"If it's fever, shortness of breath, diarrhea, loss of taste and smell, you need to go be tested for COVID," said Dr. Greg Poland, the director of the Mayo Vaccine Research Clinic in a recent VERIFY segment. "That's not allergies. Don't treat it with allergy medication."
Body aches are a sign of COVID-19, not typically something allergies sufferers might deal with during the springtime.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a Venn diagram seen above, showing what symptoms to watch out for -- especially those in the middle. If you deal with a cough and sore throat every allergy season, it's recommended to take allergy medication as treatment.
"In the middle," Poland says, "which could happen with either one, would be other mild symptoms that somebody might have like fatigue or headache."
If it's a unique symptom not usually associated with springtime allergies, or you need to know what's going on for sure, consider getting a COVID-19 test.
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