Corona Virus Disease Symptoms At first, we were told to watch out for coughing, fever, and trouble breathing. That is still true. (Photo | U Rakesh Kumar, EPS) But COVID-19 has a lot of possible symptoms, not all of which scream “respiratory disease”even though the virus SARS-CoV-2 infects our airways, and is thought to spread primarily through droplets we breathe out. COVID-19 patients have experienced some unexpected symptoms that affect more than just their. Lungs -- like GI problems, skin rashes, and a loss of smell and taste. Some of this is due to our immune response to the virus. the virus uses to infect our cells: the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptor, or ACE2 for short. This molecule lets certain coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, affect us in a /ton/ of different ways . All cells have various surface receptors embedded in their outer membrane. As their name suggests, they receive signals and stuff from outside the cell -- stuff like hormones, ...