Is it allergies? Or is it COVID-19?

And with the unfortunate unique circumstances the world finds itself in amid the COVID-19 outbreak, many may mistake their common allergy symptoms for those of the coronavirus.

Coughing, headache and sore throat are symptoms any allergy sufferer may experience on any given high-pollen day, so the question becomes: how can you tell the difference between allergies and COVID-19?

Allergists and immunologist urge sufferers to pay particular attention to the severity of their allergy symptoms, and which other symptoms they might have in combination with them.

For instance, an allergy-related cough and wheezy breathing can in most cases be resolved with an inhaler or medication. If those symptoms were COVID-related, those treatments would be ineffective.

Watch, too, if those symptoms are combined with others, such as muscle aches and pains, and loss of taste and smell, two symptoms not associated with allergies but are indicative of COVID-19.

Health care providers also encourage everyone to be mindful of their body temperature as fevers have been a very common symptom in COVID-19 patients and are not associated with allergies.