Health

COVID or Allergies? Newer COVID-19 variants can have similar symptoms to seasonal allergies

By Lisa Ryan

Published March 29, 2022 at 8:29 PM EDT

COVID-19 symptoms can include a runny nose, but sneezing is usually a sign of allergies, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.[DREII / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM]

It’s the beginning of allergy season in Northeast Ohio, but the symptoms can look a lot like those of the newer omicron BA.2 variant sweeping across the country.

Pollen counts in the Cleveland area are moderate to high right now, and will only get worse, according to Dr. Samuel Friedlander, an allergist at University Hospitals and The Weather Channel.

Fatigue, headaches, cough, sore throat, and runny nose are symptoms of both allergies and COVID-19.

There are some differences between the two, he said.

“There are some things that point toward infections, for instance, fever is certainly more likely to occur in infection like COVID, rather than allergies," Dr. Friedlander said.

Itchy, watery eyes are also a sign that what you are dealing with is caused by allergies and probably not COVID.

This graph shows which symptoms are the same for both COVID-19 and seasonal allergies. [U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention / ]

One symptom in particular usually means you have COVID-19, said Dr. Christine Alexander, family medicine specialist at MetroHealth.

“If you have a loss of taste or loss of smell, that’s still much more common with COVID than it is with anything else," Dr. Alexander said.

When in doubt, take an at-home COVID-19 test so you don’t risk spreading viruses to others. Alexander said,