How To Tell If You Have a Summer Cold or COVID

It's not always easy to tell if you have a summer cold or COVID, especially when the symptoms of a summer cold—like headache, cough, or congestion—mimic those of COVID. You'll want to get a COVID test since that's the only way to rule out if you have a COVID infection.

The illnesses also have viral causes and share a few treatment options and prevention methods. Here's what else you need to know about the similarities and differences between a summer cold and COVID.

Symptoms of Summer Colds and COVID

While a summer cold—which is just the common cold—and COVID are different, they still share several symptoms. The following chart compares signs of the two illnesses:

Causes

The common cold—whether a summer cold or not—and COVID have viral causes. SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes COVID, but about 200 viruses can cause the common cold.

In winter, the viruses causing colds are the most common rhinoviruses. In summer, they can be enteroviruses, which infect the tissues in your nose, throat, eyes, and digestive system.

How To Treat COVID vs. the Summer Cold

The only reliable way to differentiate between the two is to take a COVID test. Confirming one versus the other will determine how to go about treatment.

COVID Treatment

Treatment after testing positive for COVID will depend on the infection's severity. People with a mild case of COVID but do not have risks of developing severe COVID can opt for home recovery. Over-the-counter (OTC) medications can help treat COVID symptoms like coughing or congestion.

Antiviral medications can treat individuals who have a higher risk of severe illness due to COVID, regardless of their infection severity. Those medications include:

• Paxlovid: An oral medication for adults and children aged 12 and older that is taken at home
• Remdesivir: An intravenous (IV) medication for adults and children administered in a healthcare setting
• Molnuparvir: Another oral medication for adults that can be taken at home
  

Some cases of COVID require hospitalization, and treatments a healthcare provider uses will vary based on how sick a person is. Medications may be necessary for reducing immune system responses or treating complications from COVID, for example.

Cold Treatment

A test ruling out COVID may leave you with a summer cold if you have symptoms, which can be treated with OTC cough and cold remedies. In addition, resting and staying hydrated are essential parts of recovery for both colds and COVID.

Prevention

There are also shared preventative measures against colds and COVID. One of those measures is practicing good hygiene. This means covering your mouth or nose with a tissue or sleeve when sneezing—with a cold—or coughing.

It's also essential to wash your hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Not sharing personal items and staying away from others when sick can also help keep germs from spreading.

In addition, disinfecting high-touch surfaces like doorknobs with an EPA-approved disinfectant and using paper towels instead of cloth towels may reduce illness. Other COVID-specific methods of prevention include:

• Getting COVID vaccines and staying up-to-date with them
• Staying in well-ventilated areas and spaces or outdoors for activities
• Testing for COVID when you have symptoms or have had COVID exposure
• Wearing a face mask or respirator when needed, especially if you have a weakened immune system

A Quick Review

Determining if you have a summer cold or COVID can be challenging because the illnesses share symptoms like coughing, a runny nose, fatigue, and a sore throat. Testing for COVID, however, is the only way to determine if you potentially have one or the other.

Viruses cause summer colds and COVID, but the type of viral cause differs. The treatments for each illness are slightly different, and some ways you can prevent any cold are the same as the ones to avoid COVID.