“How To Tell If You Have A Cold, The Flu Or Coronavirus” – Help From Dr. Torres And The Today Show

Posted on September 27, 2020 by Tom Wade MD

In this post I embed the YouTube video of September 26, 2020, How To Tell If You Have A Cold, The Flu Or Coronavirus, [Link is to the video] from the Today Show [Link is to the Today Show YouTube Channel].

The video, slides, and transcript are an excellent summary of the differences between a cold, the flu, or the coronavirus infection.

But the bottom line is, that for the first day or two so or even longer, it is often impossible for you or your doctor to tell which of the three you have.

So, when you are sick even with what appears to be a minor illness like a cold, you should isolate yourself just in case it is covid.

Here are the summary slides from Dr. Torres’ discussion:

Here is Dr. Torres summary from the YouTube transcript*:

* Every YouTube video has a transcript that you can access by

Transcript of Dr. Torres Summing Up:

03:17
SO IF YOU ARE FEELING SICK, IT
03:19
BEARS REPEATING.
03:20
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?
03:21
>> SO IF YOU ARE FEELING SICK,
03:23
ONE OF THE THINGS TO DO IS LOOK
03:25
AT YOUR SYMPTOMS.
03:25
IF YOUR SYMPTOMS ARE SOMETHING
03:26
YOU CAN TAKE CARE OF HOME,
03:27
CERTAINLY TAKE CARE OF IT AT
03:28
HOME.
03:29
IF YOU DON’T KNOW, IF YOU
03:30
HAVEN’T BEEN TESTED AND YOU
03:31
DON’T KNOW IF IT’S CORONAVIRUS
03:32
OR FLU OR THE COLD, ASSUME IT’S
03:34
CORONAVIRUS AT THIS POINT.
03:35
BECAUSE WE ARE IN A PANDEMIC.
03:37
SO QUARANTINE YOURSELF.
03:38
IF YOU’RE GOING TO YOUR DOCTOR’S
03:40
OFFICE, CALL AHEAD, BECAUSE YOU
03:41
NEED TO FIND OUT HOW THEY’RE
03:42
TAKING CARE OF PATIENTS AND
03:43
LETTING YOU IN.
03:44
AND TRY TO GET TESTED.
03:47
RIGHT NOW, THERE’S AN FDA TEST
03:48
TO PROVE FOR THE COVID AND FLU,
03:51
BUT IT’S A SENDOUT TEST AND
03:52
TAKES A LITTLE WHILE TO GET
03:53
BACK.
03:54
WHAT THEY’RE LOOKING AT THAT
03:56
TAKES 15 MINUTES THAT CAN DETECT
03:58
BOTH OF THEM.
03:58
YOU WANT TO CALL AHEAD TO MAKE
04:00
SURE THAT THEY HAVE THE
04:01
ACCOMMODATIONS AND WHAT YOU NEED
04:03
TO DO BEFORE YOU GO INTO THE
04:04
OFFICE.
04:04
BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, IF YOU’RE
04:06
SICK, THINK CORONAVIRUS AT THIS
04:07
POINT UNTIL PROVEN OTHERWISE.
04:08
SO GO AHEAD AND STAY HOME, AVOID
04:10
OTHER PEOPLE, SO YOU’RE NOT SPREADING IT.
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