See a doctor in the first day or two of symptoms if you are 65 or older, pregnant, or living with a chronic condition such as asthma, diabetes, or heart disease, and bring in a child younger than 5, especially one younger than 2. Most other adults with mild symptoms can rest and recover at home. Timing matters because symptoms alone cannot tell the two illnesses apart, and both have antiviral treatments that work best when started early. Our walk-in urgent care clinic in Jamaica, Queens evaluates respiratory illness and runs on-site diagnostic testing, including rapid COVID and flu testing, during a single visit.
The Symptom Overlap Is Almost Total
Federal guidance is blunt about this. You cannot tell the difference between flu and COVID-19 by the symptoms alone, because many of the signs and symptoms are the same, and testing is needed to confirm a diagnosis. Both illnesses also range from no symptoms at all to severe illness, so how badly you feel is not a reliable clue either.
These are the symptoms the two illnesses share:
- Fever or feeling feverish and having chills, although not everyone with flu will have a fever
- Cough
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- Fatigue
- Sore throat
- Runny or stuffy nose
- Muscle pain or body aches
- Headache
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea, more frequent in children with flu but possible at any age with COVID-19
- Change in or loss of taste or smell, which is more frequent with COVID-19
That list covers nearly everything a person notices during a winter illness, which is why guessing at home goes wrong so often and why a test is the only thing that settles it.
Small Differences That Point One Way or the Other
A few patterns lean in one direction, though none of them amounts to proof.
Timing after exposure is the clearest. With flu, a person typically experiences symptoms one to four days after infection. With COVID-19, symptoms typically appear two to five days after infection and can take up to 14 days. If you know when you were exposed, that gap is worth telling your provider.
The contagious window differs too. People with flu are potentially contagious for about one day before symptoms show, and older children and adults are most contagious during the first three days of illness, though some people stay contagious a little longer than that. With COVID-19, people can on average begin spreading the virus two to three days before symptoms begin, with infectiousness peaking the day before symptoms start, and are considered contagious for about eight days after symptoms begin.
From what federal public health authorities know, COVID-19 also spreads more easily than flu and can cause more severe illness in some people. For the fuller picture of how these two respiratory illnesses compare, federal public health guidance walks through each difference in turn.
None of that replaces a test. Some tests detect both viruses at once, which is why we would rather run the test than let you guess, since a test administered by a medical professional gets you diagnosed and treated for the specific virus more quickly.
Three Situations That Mean You Should Be Seen
Most people with flu have mild illness and do not need medical care or antiviral drugs. Federal guidance on COVID-19 is framed a little differently, telling people to seek health care promptly for testing or treatment if they have risk factors for severe illness. Three situations change the wait-it-out answer:
- You are at higher risk of serious complications. That group includes adults 65 and older, people who are pregnant, children younger than 5 and especially those younger than 2, and people of any age with chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes, or heart disease.
- You are very sick, or you are worried about your illness. Federal guidance says to contact a health care provider right away in that case, whatever your risk category.
- You are not improving after several days, or a new symptom appears. Note that a fever or cough that improves and then returns or worsens sits on the federal emergency warning-sign list rather than this one, and we cover it below.
If any of those describes your week, come see us rather than waiting the illness out. Getting treated early for either virus can reduce your risk of getting very sick.
The Treatment Clock Is the Real Deadline
The strongest argument for being seen early is not the diagnosis. It is that both treatments are on a timer.
Flu antiviral drugs work best when started early, ideally within two days after flu symptoms begin. Starting in that window, they can lessen symptoms and shorten the time you are sick by about a day, and they can help reduce some complications. Starting later can still help, particularly for someone with a higher-risk condition or someone who is very sick. Antivirals are prescription medicines, so they require a visit.
COVID-19 has its own window. Several antiviral medications are authorized or approved to treat mild to moderate COVID-19 in people who are more likely to get very sick, and that treatment must be started within five to seven days of when symptoms first start. Antibiotics do not work against either virus, because they fight bacterial infections. A provider may still prescribe them if a bacterial complication such as pneumonia or a sinus or ear infection develops.
Read those two windows together, and the practical answer is simple. If you are in a higher-risk group, we would rather see you on day one or day two than on day five.
Warning Signs That Mean Emergency Care, Not a Clinic
Some symptoms are past the point where a walk-in visit is the right call, and the same judgment applies to any sudden illness where you are weighing urgent care against the emergency room. In adults, federal guidance says to obtain medical care right away for any of the following:
- Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
- Persistent pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen
- Persistent dizziness, confusion, or inability to arouse
- Seizures
- Not urinating
- Severe muscle pain
- Severe weakness or unsteadiness
- Fever or cough that improves but then returns or worsens
- Worsening of chronic medical conditions
The federal COVID-19 warning-sign list covers much of the same ground, including trouble breathing, persistent chest pain or pressure, new confusion, and an inability to wake or stay awake. It carries one sign the flu list does not: lips, nail beds, or skin that appear pale, gray, or blue depending on skin tone. Anyone showing any of those signs should call 911 or call ahead to a local emergency facility.
Children have a separate list, and parents should treat all of these as emergencies:
- Fast or labored breathing
- Ribs pulling in with each breath
- Bluish lips or face
- Chest pain
- Severe muscle pain to the point a child refuses to walk
- Dehydration such as no urine for eight hours
- Dry mouth or no tears when crying
- Not alert or interacting when awake
- Seizures
- A fever above 104 degrees Fahrenheit that fever-reducing medicine does not control
- Any fever at all in a child younger than 12 weeks
- A fever or cough that improves and then returns or worsens
- Any worsening of a chronic medical condition
Neither list covers every possibility, so call us or seek emergency care for any symptom that is severe or concerning. Reviewing the emergency warning signs for adults and children before flu season starts is worth the five minutes.
Walk In for Same-Day Respiratory Illness Care in Jamaica, Queens
Guessing costs you the treatment window. Our clinic at 88-14 Sutphin Blvd. treats colds, flu, and upper respiratory infections, and our on-site diagnostic testing includes rapid COVID, flu, strep, and RSV tests, many of them completed during your visit, so you can leave knowing what to do about your illness. Our urgent care team evaluates infections, fevers, and seasonal illnesses, we accept a wide range of insurance plans, and we speak Spanish. You can walk in, call us, or contact us online to be seen today.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to go to urgent care for flu symptoms?
Most people with flu have mild illness and do not need medical care or antiviral drugs. Come see us if you are at higher risk of complications, if you are very sick, or if you are worried about your illness, because federal guidance says to contact a health care provider right away in those situations. Come in as well if you are not improving after several days or a new symptom appears. Emergency warning signs such as difficulty breathing, persistent pain or pressure in the chest, persistent confusion, or bluish lips call for an emergency facility rather than a walk-in clinic.
Can I be tested for more than one respiratory illness in one visit?
Yes. Our on-site diagnostic testing includes rapid COVID, flu, strep, and RSV tests, and many results come back during the same visit, so one trip can rule out more than one illness. Call us to confirm which tests we have on hand for your symptoms. Federal guidance adds that some tests detect both viruses at once, and that having a medical professional administer the test gets you diagnosed and treated for the specific virus more quickly.
How soon after symptoms start should I be seen?
As early as you can if you are in a higher-risk group. Flu antiviral drugs work best when started within two days after flu symptoms begin, and COVID-19 antiviral treatment must be started within five to seven days of when symptoms first start. Starting later can still help, especially if you are at higher risk or very sick, but those first two days are the window that matters most.
