Is it COVID or a cold? How to know as Omicron cases rise

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The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) says a resurgence of COVID-19 appears to be underway, fuelled by the highly transmissible Omicron variant. At the same time, most COVID restrictions have been lifted across the country, more adults are heading back to workplaces, and kids, for the most part, no longer have to wear masks in schools.

"As of March 31, daily average case counts have increased by 28 per cent nationally," Canada's Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam said during a briefing last week. 

It seems everyone either knows someone who is sick or they are sick themselves. Two of the doctors who spoke to CBC News for this story recently tested positive. 

But with limited access to PCR tests across Canada, some who are getting sick are wondering if they have COVID or a cold or the flu — and what they should do if they have COVID-like symptoms but don't actually feel so unwell. 

We'll answer some of those questions here.  

It's impossible to know for sure whether you have COVID-19 without a test, said Dr. Shazma Mithani, an emergency physician in Edmonton. 

"There's no specific symptom or lack of symptom that can say for sure it is COVID or not."

The current list of possible Covid-19 symptoms in Canada is long – 14 in all. And PHAC warns that symptoms vary from one person to another, and that age can be a factor. 

Right now, some of the most commonly experienced symptoms of COVID-19 include:

"Many people who have COVID infection feel almost nothing or very mild symptoms — especially if they're young and healthy — versus some people as they start to get into their 40s, 50s and upwards seem to be much more symptomatic," said Dr. Lisa Barrett, an infectious disease doctor and researcher at Dalhousie University in Halifax.

And a once telltale sign has all but disappeared. 

"That loss of taste and smell, which was kind of a warning symptom of, like, this is very likely COVID ... that has evolved out of the virus, where it's less prominent now," said Barrett. 

What doctors say they are seeing more of with Omicron is gastrointestinal symptoms, especially diarrhea, but also vomiting and abdominal pain.