To tell if it's COVID or the flu you will need to have a COVID test done to determine if what you have is COVID or the flu.
If you test negative for COVID then it's likely the flu and you can also get at home flu test kits and COVID test kits online or in stores or you can see a doctor to be tested for COVID or the flu.
Key indicators of the flu including the new flu strain are abrupt onset and intense fatigue/aches, but symptoms overlap with COVID-19, so testing helps differentiate, with emergency signs including trouble breathing or confusion.
COVID-19 and the flu also feel very similar, and share many of the same symptoms like fever, cough, fatigue, sore throat, and body aches, making them hard to tell apart just by how you feel, though COVID-19 is more known for taste/smell loss and sometimes diarrhea, while flu often hits suddenly with deep exhaustion and joint pain.
The flu is higher in activity right now than COVID.
While COVID is still around and will continue to be around, COVID is not running as rampant as it was when COVID first began.
Seasonal influenza or flu activity is continuing to increase across the United States.
And currently COVID-19 activity is low nationally.
More people right now have the flu instead of the COVID virus.
A lot of people have caught the flu this month in December of 2025 and some people including myself got infected with the flu on Christmas Day or December 25th.
There's also a new strain of flu going around right now which is the H3N2 flu strain and it's making some people feel worse than the other flu viruses.
The new strain of the flu virus is currently more aggressive than the older flu viruses.
The new flu strain is showing typical influenza symptoms which include sudden fever, cough, sore throat, runny/stuffy nose, body aches, headache, and fatigue, with some experiencing vomiting/diarrhea (more common in kids).
Key indicators of the flu including the new flu strain are abrupt onset and intense fatigue/aches, but symptoms overlap with COVID-19, so testing helps differentiate, with emergency signs including trouble breathing or confusion.
COVID-19 and the flu also feel very similar, and share many of the same symptoms like fever, cough, fatigue, sore throat, and body aches, making them hard to tell apart just by how you feel, though COVID-19 is more known for taste/smell loss and sometimes diarrhea, while flu often hits suddenly with deep exhaustion and joint pain.
Respiratory adenovirus infections typically also cause mild cold or flu-like symptoms, although they can also cause acute bronchitis, pneumonia, conjunctivitis (pink eye), and acute gastroenteritis (inflammation of the stomach or intestines causing diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, and stomach pain).