While COVID-19 has a lot of symptoms in common with respiratory infections and is seldom difficult to draw distinctions between the two, it is quite evident that COVID-19, unlike a cold or the flu is much more severe, spreads faster and can have devastating consequences. This, again, has been one risk factor held responsible for the spread of COVID-19 during the second wave and is still as likely a risk measure to cause a spurt of cases. Experts have long suggested that in the lack of awareness, people can often mistake their ‘mild’ COVID symptoms to be that of a cold or the flu, or go for COVID testing at a much later stage- becoming susceptible to the severity and poor consequences, including critical hospitalization or death.

Again, delaying diagnosis, or avoiding testing is a costly mistake during a pandemic of such proportions. Not only does it prevent people from getting timely help and management of the disease, but it can also contribute to the spreading of the infection, especially the Delta variant, which is also said to spread a lot faster, and have high infectivity, in comparison to the original strain.