Symptomatic simply means someone is showing symptoms of a particular illness or a disease. For COVID-19, that would include things like fever, cough or shortness of breath. Being symptomatic is an important part of the coronavirus conversation. Health officials believe the risk of getting the virus is highest when one comes into contact with someone who is symptomatic. However, there have been questions raised as to whether the disease can also be spread before someone shows signs of it (also known as pre-symptomatic).