Is my sore throat a sign of COVID-19?

woman searching covid-19 sore throat symptoms

When you’re clutching at your throat because it feels raw, scratchy and painful, and it hurts just to swallow, all you want is to feel better. Along with “why me?,” you’re likely asking yourself, is this part of a cold?; strep throat?; or worse–a sign of coronavirus? Below, we walk you through some possible causes for sore throat, and the specific symptoms to watch for. During the pandemic, it’s important to pay attention to your health and to know when to seek care.


Common Causes of Sore Throat

  1. Cold and Flu: The common cold and seasonal influenza share many symptoms, including that dreaded sore throat. If you’re suffering from a cold or the flu, you may also experience fever, headache, muscle aches, fatigue, cough, runny nose, sneezing, and congestion. Colds are usually milder than flu, and are more likely to include a runny or stuffy nose. Protect yourself with an annual flu vaccine, and know we are here to provide care if you do become ill.
  2.  

  3. COVID-19: Like the common cold and flu, COVID-19 is a viral, respiratory illness that can indeed cause sore throat. However, sore throat doesn’t seem to be a particularly common symptom of the novel coronavirus. One study, commissioned by the World Health Organization (WHO), found that out of more than 55,000 confirmed cases, only 13.9 percent of people reported a sore throat. Get a COVID-19 test if you’ve been around someone who tested positive, or are exhibiting other COVID-19 symptoms, such as cough, difficulty breathing, and/or fever, along with chills, muscle pain, headache, and any new loss of taste or smell.
  4.  

  5. Strep throat: Strep throat is a bacterial infection of the throat and tonsils, caused by streptococcal bacteria. Look for red, swollen tonsils and throat; white spots or streaks on the tongue or back of your throat; and swollen lymph nodes in your neck. Strep throat can also make it difficult to swallow and cause headache, fever and chills. An in-clinic strep test or throat culture can determine if group A strep is the cause of your sore throat. If so, our providers can prescribe an antibiotic to treat the infection.
  6.  

  7. Allergies: When your immune system overreacts to a foreign substance (e.g. a food, drug, chemical, animal dander, or pollen), it can trigger an allergic response. Severe reactions are possible, but for common allergies, you’ll likely experience itchy eyes, sneezing, runny nose, cough, congestion and headache. A post-nasal drip can lead to an allergy-induced sore throat.


When you need care and advice for sore throat symptoms, our urgent care is here for you.

11 comments

  1. You’re so awesome! I don’t believe I have read a single thing like that before. So great to find someone with some original thoughts on this topic. Really.. thank you for starting this up. This website is something that is needed on the internet, someone with a little originality!

  2. Simply wish to say your article is as amazing. The clearness in your post is just nice and i could assume you’re an expert on this subject. Well with your permission let me to grab your feed to keep updated with forthcoming post. Thanks a million and please carry on the gratifying work.

  3. A significant relationship between hospitalizations and general practitioner consultation was found with an OR 4 buy cialis without prescription Fibrotic disorders, including cardiac fibrosis, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis IPF, chronic kidney fibrosis, liver cirrhosis, and systemic sclerosis, account for over 45 of deaths, with an increasing trend due to the overall aging of the human population worldwide 1

  4. You really make it seem really easy together with your presentation but I find this topic to be really one thing that I feel I might never
    understand. It sort of feels too complex and very vast for me.
    I am looking forward for your subsequent put up, I will try to
    get the hang of it!

  5. Hey! Someone in my Facebook group shared this website with us so I came to check it
    out. I’m definitely enjoying the information. I’m book-marking and will be tweeting this to my followers!

    Fantastic blog and wonderful design.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published.