GoodRx / Maryann Mikhail, MD
When you think of symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19), you’re primarily on the lookout for fever, cough, and shortness of breath. But what you might not realize is that the virus can cause symptoms in the skin, too. In fact, some people only get skin findings and nothing else. As we try to stop the spread, it is important to know what skin symptoms may signal an infection.
What are common symptoms of coronavirus?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), symptoms of COVID-19 may appear 2 to 14 days after exposure to the virus and can range from mild to severe.
Symptoms can include:
- Cough
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
Or at least two of the following:
- Fever
- Chills
- Persistent shaking with chills
- Muscle aches
- Headache
- Sore throat
- New loss of taste or smell
Recently, however, medical professionals have begun to notice skin symptoms (such as “COVID toe”) in people infected with the virus.
What kind of skin symptoms are we seeing with coronavirus?
We are just learning the ways COVID-19 can affect the skin. In general, rashes linked to the virus come up suddenly. There might be other symptoms like fever or cough. But in some cases, the rash can be the only symptom.
One of the earliest reports of COVID-19 rashes came from patients hospitalized in Italy. As the coronavirus spread through the country, dermatologists there found that 20% of COVID-19 patients had skin symptoms. Out of those people, 44% had skin issues from the beginning of their infection. The remaining 55% developed a rash during hospitalization. People with skin symptoms did not have more severe disease than those without.
