The COVID-19 pandemic continues to surge in pockets across Iowa with new symptoms tied to the respiratory virus.

Family Practice Physician Dr. Laurie Connolly with Greene County Medical Center says the typical symptoms of COVID-19 include a fever, headaches, shortness of breath, sore throat and muscle aches. The milder symptoms are loss of taste and smell, stuffy nose, nausea and diarrhea. Dr. Connolly points out when schools start next month, it will become more difficult to decipher between COVID-19 and other viruses that happen during the course of the school year.

“Two or three weeks after kids go back to school the normal viruses, the rhinovirus – which is the typical cold – just the normal viruses start up. If somebody has a cold we’re usually not having them isolate. But COVID is much more deadly than the typical cold.”

Dr. Connolly suggests if someone is experiencing COVID-19 symptoms to get them tested for the virus. You can take the TestIowa assessment and then go to a TestIowa site, contact your medical provider, or call the Greene County Public Health COVID-19 Hotline at 515-386-0564.