The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 SARS-CoV-2 , causing the coronavirus disease COVID , has evolved into a pandemic within the past five months, with more than eight million verified cases worldwide [1, 2]. It is a viral infection with similarities to the severe acute respiratory syndrome SARS. Most patients experience mild to moderate symptoms [1].
The natural course of the infection is characterised by an incubation period of up to 18 days and a minimum disease duration of 14 days, with risk of progression even late in the disease course [].
The viral load is highest in the first week of infection, and seroconversion is present in all patients after 14 days [9]. The symptoms mimic those of other upper respiratory tract infections, with fever and coughing as the most commonly reported symptoms. Other symptoms reported are headache, muscular pain and sore throat. Furthermore, cases of anosmia and taste dysfunction have been reported [12, 13]. The clinical handling of patients depends on the infrastructure of medical healthcare in the respective countries [14, 15].
COVID clinics were established in emergency hospitals in order to introduce an additional selective filter between primary care and hospitals to prevent unnecessary resource use and the overfilling of hospitals, which was a considerable challenge in other European countries. As the virus became more widely spread, the testing strategy was widened to include patients with moderate to severe symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection.
As of 28 March , testing was made available to all persons with symptoms and a high risk of infection such as social workers and healthcare workers, patients with co-morbidities and patients with mild symptoms [16]. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the symptom pattern of COVID and the overlap with other upper respiratory tract infections in patients referred for first-line evaluation at a Danish COVID clinic in Hvidovre in the greater Copenhagen area.
