How to tell the difference between the flu and the Coronavirus

The incubation period for viruses that cause the ordinary flu is about two days.

But the novel coronavirus can stay hidden in the body for up to fourteen days.

And while both the flu and the coronavirus have similar symptoms including a fever, headache, cough and muscle pain, those symptoms usually occur all at once if you have the flu,whereas patients with the coronavirus experience various symptoms over a longer period.

In many cases of the coronavirus, the early symptoms are less severe than the flu.

So what are the most common symptoms of the novel coronavirus?

According to British medical journal The Lancet, 82 percent of a study of 99 patients in Wuhan had fever.

The second most common symptom was a cough. And 31 patients experienced shortage of breath.
Only five patients had sore throat and four had a runny nose.
There are also fewer patients with a stomachache and diarrhoea than during the outbreaks of the Middle East respiratory syndrome, MERS, and the severe acute respiratory syndrome, SARS.

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms in South Korea, you can find out the movements of the confirmed coronavirus patients on the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website to see whether you could have been exposed to the virus.

If so, call 1339 and follow the instructions or visit a state-designated medical institution to check for the coronavirus infection.

Even if you find no contact with the virus but are feeling sick, it's better to take precautions and avoid going out.