It seems to start with a fever, followed by a dry cough.
After a week, it can lead to shortness of breath, with about 20% of patients requiring hospital treatment.
Notably, the COVID-19 infection rarely seems to cause a runny nose, sneezing, or sore throat (these symptoms have been observed in only about 5% of patients). Sore throat, sneezing,and stuffy nose are most often signs of a cold.
Statistics:
80.9% of infections are mild (with flu-like symptoms) and can recover at home.
13.8% are severe, developing severe diseases including pneumonia and shortness of breath.
4.7% as critical and can include: respiratory failure, septic shock, and multi-organ failure.
in about 2% of reported cases the virus is fatal.
Risk of death increases the older you are.
Relatively few cases are seen among children.
Pre-existing illnesses that put patients at higher risk:
cardiovascular disease
diabetes
chronic respiratory disease
hypertension
Examples of possible development of symptoms (from actual cases)
A man in his 40s in Japan:
Day #1: malaise and muscle pain
later diagnosed with pneumonia
A man in his 60s in Japan:
Day #1: initial symptoms of low-grade fever and sore throat.
A man in his 40s in Japan:
Day #1: chills, sweating and malaise
Day #4: fever, muscle pain and cough
A woman in her 70s, in Japan:
Day #1: 38° fever for a few minutes
Day #2-3: went on a bus tour
Day #5: visited a medical institution
Day #6: showed symptoms of pneumonia.