Shortness of Breath and COVID-19: Why It Happens and How to Manage It

Shortness of breath can be a frightening symptom — and it’s one that people often associate with COVID-19. Even in 2025, COVID remains a common respiratory infection. And, for some, it can still cause lung inflammation and difficulty breathing. 

Most cases are mild. But shortness of breath can be an early warning sign that the infection is affecting your lungs or that your oxygen levels are falling. Understanding why it happens, what it means, and when to get help can make a big difference in your recovery.

What is shortness of breath?

Shortness of breath is the feeling that you’re out of breath, like you can’t catch your breath or that it’s hard work to inhale fully. Sometimes, it can feel like tightness around the chest. Another medical term for these symptoms is “dyspnea.” 

Symptoms of shortness of breath can include:

• A feeling of tightness or pressure in your chest or lungs

• Needing extra effort to take a full breath in or out

• Rapid or shallow breathing

• Feeling like you can’t get enough air

• Wheezing or noisy breathing

• Feeling lightheaded, dizzy, or unusually tired while breathing

• Anxiety or restlessness that comes along with the struggle to breathe

Feeling short of breath can be normal. It can happen, for example, if you’re exercising, at a high altitude, or anxious. But take note if the shortness of breath doesn’t go away when you rest, or if you feel short of breath after little or no activity. These are signs that something isn’t right. 

Shortness of breath can come on suddenly in otherwise healthy people. It can also be a part of daily life for many people with a chronic lung or heart condition.

Why does COVID cause shortness of breath?

COVID is a respiratory illness, which means it primarily affects the lungs and airways. The virus that causes COVID — SARS-CoV-2 — enters the body through the nose and throat. From there, it can travel down into the lungs.

Once in the lungs, the virus can infect and inflame the tiny air sacs called alveoli. These are the structures responsible for passing oxygen into your bloodstream and clearing carbon dioxide out of your body. When the alveoli become swollen or filled with fluid, it becomes harder for oxygen to move across into the blood.

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Your body responds to all this by making you breathe faster and harder. That’s what creates the sensation of shortness of breath. In more serious cases, your lungs can’t keep up, oxygen levels in the blood drop, and the shortness of breath becomes more pronounced.

How common is shortness of breath with COVID? 

For most people with mild COVID, shortness of breath is less common than other symptoms like: 

• Runny nose

• Fever

• Sore throat

• Cough

But among those hospitalized with COVID, shortness of breath is usually one of the most common symptoms. A recent study found that nearly 40% of people who needed to be hospitalized for COVID in 2024-2025 experienced shortness of breath at the time of admission. 

What are other symptoms of COVID-19? 

Here are the most common symptoms of COVID:

• Congestion or runny nose

• Fever or chills

• Sore throat

• Dry cough

• Fatigue

• Muscle or body aches

• Headache

• Shortness of breath

• New loss of smell (and sometimes taste)

• Nausea or vomiting

• Diarrhea

Of these, anosmia — loss of smell — is one of the strongest signs that you might have COVID.

How to manage shortness of breath from COVID

If you develop shortness of breath with COVID, it’s important to pay close attention to how severe it is and how quickly it changes. Here are some steps that may help:

• Rest and hydrate. Giving your body a chance to recover can ease some of the strain on your lungs.

• Monitor your oxygen levels. A pulse oximeter (a small device that clips on your finger) can help track your blood oxygen levels. Normal levels are usually 95% or higher. A reading consistently below 92% is a reason to seek medical attention.

• Try breathing exercises. Some people find relief with breathing techniques like slow deep breathing, pursed-lip breathing, or lying on their stomach (proning), which can sometimes help improve oxygen flow.

• Take medications as directed. If you already use inhalers or other respiratory medications for conditions like asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), keep using them as prescribed.

• Seek medical attention if needed. Shortness of breath that gets worse, or comes with chest pain, bluish lips or face, or confusion, is an emergency. Call 911 right away. See below for more details on when to get medical care.

Most mild cases of COVID improve with time, usually in about 5 to 7 days. But worsening breathlessness can be a sign of pneumonia or severe disease. It’s always safest to err on the side of caution and get checked out if you’re unsure.

When to seek medical attention for shortness of breath?

Shortness of breath isn’t common with mild COVID, but it can be a sign of more serious illness. It usually happens when the infection has spread to the lungs. When that happens, your body may not get enough oxygen. This can make you feel winded and cause you to breathe faster or harder.

If you have shortness of breath that’s new or worse, and you feel breathless with small amounts of activity, then you need to seek medical attention. This was true before COVID, and it’s still true now.

And, if you have any of the following symptoms, you should seek emergency medical care immediately:

• Tightness or pain around your chest that doesn’t go away

• Sudden confusion or extreme sleepiness

• Bluish lips or face

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Written by:

Sophie Vergnaud, MD

Sophie Vergnaud, MD, is the Senior Medical Director for GoodRx Health. A pulmonologist and hospitalist, she practiced and taught clinical medicine at hospitals in London for a decade before entering a career in health education and technology.

Reviewed by:

Farzon A. Nahvi, MD

Farzon Nahvi, MD, is an emergency medicine physician and author of “Code Gray: Death, Life, and Uncertainty in the ER.” He works at Concord Hospital in Concord, New Hampshire, and teaches at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth.

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