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. Cloth face coverings are required in schools and child care settings for people over 5 years of age.

  • syringe

    Get a COVID vaccine when it is available to you.

  • socially distanced

    Practice social distancing.

What To Do If You Are sick.

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 April 23, 2021, Maine CDC identified more than 59,000 cases and 770 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.

Maine adults who tested positive for COVID-19 in 2020 and provided their cell phone numbers at the time of COVID-19 testing will receive a text message with a link to the survey to take online on their cell phones. 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 additional questions regarding this study, you can email MECDC.LongCOVID@maine.gov. If you were diagnosed with COVID-19 in 2020, do not receive a text message with the survey link, and wish to participate in the survey, please send an email to MECDC.LongCOVID@maine.gov.

For more information, see Maine CDC's Frequently Asked Survey Questions.