'It's nothing like I expected': Nurse explains what it's like to have coronavirus

Survivor surprised how quickly her minor symptoms escalated

A nurse who suffered from coronavirus has revealed that what she first thought was just the "sniffles" escalated very quickly over a couple of days.

Lisa Merck, from Colorado, tested positive for coronavirus after visiting Hawaii for a medical conference.

Ms Merck told news station KDVR that her symptoms were very minor at first, but escalated quickly.

"We went to a medical conference over there and on the day we were going to leave I had little sniffles. That's it," she said.

However, when she was flying home she started to feel aches and pains, before her general health started to decline back home in Colorado.

"We got back and my muscles ached, my bones ached and my joints ached really bad," said Ms Merck. "It felt like someone was stabbing me with an ice pick and I was like, 'I wonder if I have the flu'."

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After a couple of days of dealing with the illness, the nurse decided that she needed to go to the hospital.

"Finally, on Sunday night, I told my husband, 'I need you take me to the ER. I don't feel well – whenever I stand, I feel like I'm going to faint,'" she said.

"It's nothing like I expected."

In the US 3,485 cases of the disease and 65 deaths have been recorded so far.

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended a two-week ban on gatherings of more than 50 people as part of the battle to contain the spread of the contagion.