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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has expanded its list of possible symptoms of the coronavirus, a step that reflects the broad variation and unpredictability in the way the illness can affect individual patients. Echoing the observations of doctors treating thousands of patients in the pandemic, the federal health agency changed its website to cite the following symptoms as possible indicators of Covid-19, the infection caused by the coronavirus. (Belluck, 4/27)

“You don’t want to list 20-something symptoms, especially if half the population has those symptoms,” Ramirez said. “You’re trying to balance targeting the right people to come in for testing, so it must be specific.” The additions confirm what patients and doctors have been reporting anecdotally for weeks. In particular, the loss of taste or smell has been known to appear in patients since at least mid-March when a British group of ear, nose and throat doctors published a statement amid growing concern that it could be an early sign someone is infected but otherwise asymptomatic. (Fritz, Brice-Saddler and Judkis, 4/27)

Dr. John Swartzberg, an infectious disease specialist at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health, said it is not surprising that the CDC would update its list of symptoms as more information about the virus became available. “It’s what they should be doing,” he said. “This is a brand-new disease and we are learning enormous amounts about it,” Swartzerg added, “including its clinical manifestations.” (Netburn, 4/27)

Doctors are learning more about COVID-19’s newest and oddest skin manifestation, dubbed COVID toes, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention adds to the growing list of symptoms associated with the coronavirus. The American Academy of Dermatology has compiled a registry of skin manifestations associated with COVID-19. About half of the more than 300 total cases on the dermatological registry consist of COVID toes. (Rodriguez, 4/27)

Dr. Sunny Jha, a University of Southern California anesthesiologist, recently treated a man in his 60s who tested positive for COVID-19. Since the disease is known to attack the lungs, Jha tested the man's oxygen levels, though the man said he didn't have any breathing problems or any other sign of low oxygen. But the reading came back at 88%, a concerning far cry from the healthy mid- or upper-90s Jha was expecting from someone who didn't show any outward breathing issues. (Abdelmalek and Bhatt, 4/28)