Coronavirus Update: CDC Confirms 3 New COVID-19 Symptoms, Including Diarrhea

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has added three more symptoms to its existing list, bringing to 11 the symptoms Americans should be on the lookout for it they think they've contracted COVID-19.

Added to the COVID-19 symptoms list, which is available on the CDC website, are congestion or runny nose, nausea and diarrhea. The updated CDC list of symptoms consists of:

• Fever or chills
• Cough
• Fatigue
• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• Muscle or body aches
• Headache
• New loss of taste or smell
• Sore throat
• Congestion or runny nose
• Nausea or vomiting
• Diarrhea

CDC said the list doesn't include all possible symptoms, an indication it may add more symptoms later on.

The most common symptoms of infection are fever or chills, cough and fatigue. The least common symptoms are muscle or body aches, sore throat, diarrhea, new loss of taste or smell and headache.

The serious symptoms are shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, chest pain and loss of speech or movement, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

In addition, other COVID-19 symptoms such as conjunctivitis, a skin or discoloration (turning blue) of fingers or toes (indicating insufficient oxygen) haven't made it to the CDC list but are listed by WHO.

Most people beginning experiencing symptoms of infection anywhere from two to 14 days following exposure to SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2), which is the virus that causes COVID-19.

CDC also revealed the true number of Americans infected with COVID-19 might now be in excess of 20 million persons. There are currently more than 2.45 million persons in the U.S. with confirmed infections, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

On Thursday, CDC made the alarming admission more than 20 million Americans might actually be infected with COVID-19. The latest data from Johns Hopkins University shows 2.45 million cases and 126,000 deaths in the United States due to COVID-19.

"Our best estimate right now is that for every case that's reported, there actually are 10 other infections," said CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield.

Dr. Redfield said this stunning assessment from an analysis of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in blood samples. He said for every confirmed case of COVID-19, 10 more people had antibodies.

Dr. Redfield pointed out SARS-CoV-2 causes so much asymptomatic infection the traditional approach of looking for symptomatic illness and diagnosing it obviously underestimates the total amount of infections.