COVID-19: General Information

Basic information and popular resources for COVID-19.

On this page:

Symptoms

Signs and symptoms of COVID-19 are similar to influenza (flu) and include:

  • Coughing into elbow

    Cough

  • Headache

    Headache

  • lungs

    Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

  • Sore throat

    Sore throat

  • Person with thermometer in mouth

    Fever or Chills

  • No smell

    New loss of taste or smell

  • Person fatigued

    Fatigue

  • Nose dripping

    Congestion or runny nose

  • Leg pain

    Muscle or body aches

  • Nausea

    Nausea or vomiting

  • toilet

    Diarrhea

Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure.

Most patients experience relatively mild symptoms and can recover at home. Some patients, particularly those with underlying medical conditions, may experience more severe respiratory illness. Learn more about COVID-19 symptoms.

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children, MIS-C, is a serious but rare complication of COVID-19 that causes inflammation of certain body parts.

Prevent COVID-19

  • washing hands

    Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or use alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

  • not touching eye

    Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.

  • socially distanced

    Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

  • house

    Stay home while you are sick and avoid close contact with others.

  • girl with face mask

    Wear a cloth face covering in public indoor spaces, especially if you are not vaccinated.

  • syringe

    Get a COVID vaccine when it is available to you.

  • socially distanced

    Practice social distancing.

What To Do If You Are Sick

COVID-19 Isolation and Quarantine

Isolation for people who test positive for COVID-19 or have COVID-19 symptoms

If you are not a healthcare worker and either tested positive for COVID-19 or are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, use this flow chart to find out what you should do:

Isolation Flow Chart

Find the pdf of the isolation flow chart here (PDF).

Find more information on isolation here.

If you are a healthcare worker and either tested positive for COVID-19 or are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, please contact your employer and use this guidance to find out what you should do.


Quarantine for people who are a close contact of someone with COVID-19

If you are not a healthcare worker and are a close contact of someone with COVID-19, use this flow chart to find out what you should do:

Quarantine Flow Chart

Find the pdf of the quarantine flow chart here (PDF).

Find more on quarantine here.

If you are a healthcare worker and are a close contact of someone with COVID-19, please contact your employer and use this guidance to find out what you should do.

Recommendations for COVID Positive Cases

Maine CDC created informational packets with recommendations for certain groups:

Long-Term Health Effects of COVID-19

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC) announced on April 23, 2021, that it will begin a survey of Maine residents who had COVID-19 to study the long-term physical and mental health consequences of COVID-19. The survey has been designed by the epidemiologists at Maine CDC and at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Between March 2020 and August 31, 2021, Maine CDC identified more than 75,000 cases and 900 deaths related to COVID-19. Recent studies suggest that people who had COVID-19 in the past may suffer from symptoms for weeks or months after their diagnosis, including those who had no symptoms or who had mild symptoms at the time of their diagnosis. Often referred to as “Long COVID”, these symptoms can include fatigue, breathlessness on exertion, muscle weakness, brain fog, altered taste or smell, headaches, gastrointestinal symptoms, anxiety, and depression. People from all age groups may be affected. Epidemiologists from Maine CDC will conduct this survey to understand how people recover from COVID-19 since the diagnosis. In order to best understand recovery from COVID-19, all those who receive an invitation to participate in the survey are encouraged to reply, regardless of their COVID-19 symptoms.

In May 2021, Maine adults who tested positive for COVID-19 in 2020 and provided their cell phone numbers at the time of COVID-19 testing received a text message with a link to the survey to take online on their cell phones. Maine CDC will now extend the invitation and send out survey links to those Maine adults who tested positive for COVID-19 between January 1, 2021 and August 31, 2021. The survey will take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete and will be available in English and Spanish. Participation in the survey is voluntary. All data collected during this survey will be stored on secure servers at the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. No individual will be identified and results from the survey will be disseminated to the Maine public and health care professionals in an aggregated and de-identified form. The survey has been approved by the Institutional Review Board of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Results from this survey will help Maine CDC better plan for healthcare needs of people recovering from COVID-19 and create awareness about the possibility of long-term health effects of COVID-19.

For more about the long-term effects of COVID-19, see Post-COVID Conditions.