NBC News mocked for report revealing doctors finding it 'increasingly difficult to distinguish COVID from allergies or the common cold'

NBC News ran an article revealing that doctors are having issues distinguishing COVID from the common cold and allergies. Online commentators mocked the liberal news outlet, many asserting that the revelation materialized three years too late.

On Saturday, NBC News published an article that found that COVID symptoms are increasingly indistinguishable from the common cold and allergies.

"Doctors say they're finding it increasingly difficult to distinguish COVID from allergies or the common cold, even as hospitalizations tick up," the article began.

"The illness' past hallmarks, such as a dry cough or the loss of sense of taste or smell, have become less common," NBC News admitted. "Instead, doctors are observing milder disease, mostly concentrated in the upper respiratory tract."

Dr. Grace McComsey – vice dean for clinical and translational research at Case Western University – estimated that roughly 10-20% of her COVID patients lose their sense of taste or smell now, versus 60-70% early in the pandemic.

"It isn’t the same typical symptoms that we were seeing before. It’s a lot of congestion, sometimes sneezing, usually a mild sore throat," explained Dr. Erick Eiting – vice chair of operations for emergency medicine at Mount Sinai Downtown in New York City.

Eiting confessed, "Just about everyone who I've seen has had really mild symptoms. The only way that we knew that it was Covid was because we happened to be testing them."

Doctors say those infected with COVID typically have symptoms such as congestion, headaches, fatigue, muscle aches, fever, chills, and post-nasal drip.

Dr. Dan Barouch – director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston – told NBC News, "Overall, the severity of COVID is much lower than it was a year ago and two years ago. That’s not because the variants are less robust. It’s because the immune responses are higher."

Reactions on the X social media platform slammed NBC News for the belated realization.

DeSantis press secretary Jeremy Redfern: "NBC is so close to getting it."

Health policy commentator Pradheep J. Shanker: "It's almost like... COVID doesn't matter that much."

Writer Ian Miller: "COVID is such a serious threat that it requires new boosters without rigorous clinical testing, but it’s also indistinguishable from the common cold Just The Science at work."

DeSantis researcher Kyle Lamb: "Again, while pretend 'experts' post about cases, actual physicians are not finding severe disease anywhere, or at least it's extremely rare. There is no longer an emergency. There is no need for boosters, nor has there been proven a benefit even if there were."

Conservative consultant Steve Guest: "'Doctors say they're finding it increasingly difficult to distinguish Covid from allergies.' It took NBC 3 years to report this."

Writer Rupa Subramanya: "Deadly COVID is indistinguishable from the common cold or allergies. The Science seems to be finally catching up with the 'conspiracy theorists' who had it right all along that COVID was basically the common cold."

Actor Matthew Marsden: "Same doctors failed to distinguish real science from bulls**t for the past four years."

Writer Meghan Maureen: "This is terrifying. How will I know if my sneezing is from the deadliest virus ever known or from ragweed?"

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