Yes, you can have a cold and COVID-19 at the same time. This is called a coinfection, and it happens more often than most people realize. In one study of patients who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, about 7% were simultaneously infected with rhinovirus or enterovirus, the most common causes of the common cold. Other respiratory viruses like RSV showed up alongside COVID at similar rates.
How Common Are Dual Infections?
Respiratory viruses circulate in overlapping waves, especially during fall and winter. Your body doesn’t gain temporary immunity to one virus just because it’s already fighting another. If you’re exposed to both a cold virus and SARS-CoV-2 within a short window, both can take hold in your airways at the same time.
Among confirmed COVID-19 cases in clinical studies, rhinovirus and enterovirus were the most frequent co-invaders at 6.9%, followed by RSV at 5.2% and other coronaviruses (the kind that cause ordinary colds) at 4.3%. Influenza also shows up alongside COVID, particularly in hospitalized patients. These numbers likely undercount real-world coinfections, since most people with mild symptoms never get tested for multiple viruses at once.
What Happens Inside Your Body During Coinfection
Here’s something counterintuitive: a cold virus may actually slow down COVID-19. Research from the CDC and laboratory studies in human cells show that rhinovirus impairs the replication of SARS-CoV-2. This phenomenon, called viral interference, means the first virus to establish itself can partially block or suppress the second one. In cell culture experiments, rhinovirus reduced SARS-CoV-2’s ability to copy itself, though the reverse wasn’t true. SARS-CoV-2 had no suppressive effect on cold viruses.
The timing matters. If you catch a cold first and then encounter SARS-CoV-2, the cold virus has a head start and can dampen COVID’s replication. Mathematical modeling found that coinfection with common respiratory viruses shifted the peak of SARS-CoV-2 viral load from around day 10 to as early as day 2 to 4, while also reducing the overall amount of virus produced. But if COVID establishes itself first and the cold arrives second, this protective interference is weaker. One large study found that people who had the flu as they entered the pandemic had 58% lower odds of testing positive for COVID in the months that followed.
Common cold viruses, however, appear completely unaffected by the presence of SARS-CoV-2. Your cold will run its normal course regardless.
Does Coinfection Make You Sicker?
It depends on which viruses are involved. The data on COVID plus a simple cold virus is somewhat reassuring, partly because of the viral interference effect described above. But coinfection with COVID and influenza is a different story. Patients infected with both SARS-CoV-2 and influenza A have shown worse respiratory outcomes, including higher rates of pneumonia, bronchitis, and severe respiratory failure compared to people with either virus alone. Hospitalization and mortality rates also trend higher in coinfected patients.
For a typical rhinovirus cold alongside a mild COVID infection, most otherwise healthy people will feel lousy but recover without complications. The risk increases for older adults, people with weakened immune systems, or those with chronic lung or heart conditions. In these groups, even a cold virus layered on top of COVID can strain the respiratory system in ways that wouldn’t happen with either infection alone.
Telling the Symptoms Apart
This is the tricky part. COVID-19 and the common cold share a long list of overlapping symptoms: runny nose, sore throat, congestion, cough, fatigue, and body aches. A regular cold tends to come on gradually, peaks within a few days, and clears up in 3 to 10 days (sometimes stretching to two weeks). COVID can follow a similar mild pattern but is more likely to include loss of taste or smell, shortness of breath, or a fever that persists beyond the first couple of days.
When you have both at the same time, the symptom picture gets muddled further. You might notice that your symptoms seem to shift character partway through, with a typical cold pattern giving way to more fatigue, chest tightness, or a fever that reignites after you thought you were improving. There’s no reliable way to sort out which virus is causing which symptom based on how you feel alone.
How to Get Tested for Both
Standard rapid antigen tests only check for one virus at a time. If you want to know whether you’re dealing with COVID, a cold, or both, you’ll need a multiplex test. These are lab-based tests, typically using PCR technology, that can scan a single nasal or throat swab for a dozen or more respiratory viruses simultaneously: influenza A and B, RSV, rhinovirus, adenovirus, parainfluenza viruses, and SARS-CoV-2, among others.
Multiplex respiratory panels are widely available through hospitals, urgent care clinics, and some primary care offices. They’re most commonly ordered when symptoms are severe enough to warrant a clinic visit or when a doctor needs to guide treatment decisions. For most people with mild symptoms at home, a standard COVID rapid test is a reasonable first step. If it comes back positive but your symptoms seem unusual or more intense than expected, requesting a broader panel through your provider can reveal whether a second virus is in the mix.
Practical Steps if You Suspect Both
The isolation and recovery approach doesn’t change much whether you have one respiratory virus or two. Stay home while you’re symptomatic to avoid spreading either virus. Cold viruses and SARS-CoV-2 spread through the same routes: respiratory droplets, aerosols, and contaminated surfaces. If you’re coinfected, you’re potentially contagious with both viruses at the same time, which means extra reason to keep your distance from vulnerable household members.
Rest, fluids, and over-the-counter symptom relief (pain relievers, decongestants, throat lozenges) remain the foundation for managing both infections. If you test positive for COVID and are at higher risk for severe illness, antiviral treatments for SARS-CoV-2 are still appropriate regardless of whether a cold virus is also present. The cold itself has no specific antiviral treatment and will resolve on its own.
Watch for signs that the combined infection is overwhelming your respiratory system: persistent shortness of breath, chest pain or pressure, confusion, or an inability to keep fluids down. These warrant prompt medical evaluation, especially if you fall into a higher-risk group.