Yes, feeling cold or having chills is a recognized symptom of COVID-19. The CDC lists “fever or chills” as one of the possible symptoms of the illness. Chills can appear with or without a measurable fever, and they’re one of the ways your body signals that your immune system is actively fighting the virus.
Why COVID Makes You Feel Cold
The sensation of being cold during a COVID infection isn’t because the virus itself lowers your body temperature. It’s actually the opposite: your immune system is raising your internal thermostat to fight the infection. When a virus enters your bloodstream, your immune system releases inflammatory chemicals that push your core temperature higher. But because your body’s new target temperature is above where you currently are, you feel cold, the same way you’d feel cold stepping into an air-conditioned room.
Two things happen at once to generate heat. Your blood vessels constrict, narrowing to help trap warmth inside your body. And your muscles contract rapidly, which is what you experience as shivering. This is why you can feel freezing cold and even be shaking under blankets while your actual body temperature reads 101°F or higher. You can also feel chills and sweat at the same time, which confuses a lot of people but is completely normal during a fever cycle.
Chills With and Without Fever
Not everyone who gets chills from COVID will register a fever on a thermometer. The immune response can trigger that cold sensation even before your temperature climbs high enough to meet the clinical definition of fever (100.4°F). Some people experience waves of chills that come and go over hours, while others have one intense episode early in the illness. In the current Omicron-dominant phase of the pandemic, chills are classified as a “less frequent” symptom, appearing in roughly half or fewer of cases. Earlier variants, particularly Delta and the original strain, were more commonly associated with fever, chills, and muscle pain as a symptom cluster.
COVID Chills vs. Flu Chills
Chills feel essentially the same whether you have COVID or the flu. Both illnesses trigger the same immune mechanism: inflammatory signals raising your body’s temperature set point. The CDC lists “fever or feeling feverish/having chills” as a shared symptom between the two, and there’s no reliable way to distinguish them based on chills alone. The key differences between COVID and flu show up in other symptoms. Loss of taste or smell, for instance, is far more associated with COVID. If you’re trying to figure out which one you have, a rapid test is the only practical way to tell.
When Feeling Cold Is More Serious
In rare cases, COVID can cause actual hypothermia, where your body temperature drops below normal rather than rising. This is uncommon and tends to occur in people with severe disease who are already hospitalized. A retrospective study of 331 COVID patients found a significant association between hypothermia and worse outcomes, including higher mortality risk. Another study of 57 hospitalized patients linked low body temperature to longer ICU stays and longer time on ventilators.
For the vast majority of people managing COVID at home, chills are an uncomfortable but expected part of the illness. They typically resolve as your fever breaks, usually within a few days. Persistent chills lasting more than a week, or chills accompanied by difficulty breathing, confusion, or chest pain, signal something more serious.
Managing Chills at Home
The chills themselves aren’t dangerous for most people. They’re just deeply unpleasant. The most effective approach is treating the fever that’s driving them. Over-the-counter fever reducers and pain relievers like ibuprofen or acetaminophen will help bring your temperature down, and as the fever drops, the chills typically ease. Layer blankets when you’re shivering, but don’t pile on so many that you overheat once the fever breaks and your body starts trying to cool down.
Rest and fluids matter more than anything else during this phase. Fever increases your fluid needs because you lose water through sweat and faster breathing. Dehydration can make you feel even worse and may prolong that run-down, shaky feeling that overlaps with chills. Water, broth, and electrolyte drinks all help. Most people with COVID recover at home within one to two weeks, and the chills and fever are usually among the first symptoms to resolve.