‘Runny nose’ and ‘sputum production’ are also symptoms of COVID-19 - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 5, 2020
A post is being shared widely on social media with a claim that  ‘if you have a runny nose and sputum when you have a cold, you cannot be a new type of coronavirus pneumonia, because coronavirus pneumonia is a dry cough without runny nose’. Let’s try to find the authenticity of the claim.
Runny nose and coughing sputum suggest that one does not have COVID-19. They are not symptoms of COVID-19.
Fact: In the advisories issued by WHO, it can be seen that ‘runny nose’ and ‘sputum production’ are also symptoms of COVID-19. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
On the WHO’s website, ‘runny nose’ can be seen in the symptoms list of COVID-19.
The ‘sputum production’ can be seen as a symptom of COVID-19 in the ‘Report of the WHO-China Joint Mission on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)’ (submitted on 28 February 2020).
Also, according to ‘AFP’ article, there is no medical expert with the name ‘Dr. Khin Maung U’ at a hospital in Shenzhen and also, there is no “Shenzhen Hospital”. Previously, FACTLY has debunked the claim that garlic protects people from the new Coronavirus; the article can be read here.
To sum it up, ‘runny nose’ and ‘sputum production’ are also symptoms of COVID-19.
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