An American woman who contracted Covid-19 in Italy says the virus made her go deaf in addition to losing her sense of taste and smell.

Julia Buscaglia, 20, told in terrifying detail how she experienced differing, additional symptoms to a fever and a dry cough.

In fact, Buscaglia, a student at the University of Buffalo in upstate New York who moved to Florence in January, said she had a 'wet cough' and 'no symptoms were present that the CDC warned us about'.

Posting to Twitter she explained how she returned home from hard hit Italy, where more than 6,000 people have died from coronavirus, at the beginning of March.

Julia said she was able to travel back into the United States where 'not a single person asked where I had been'.

After testing positive she said: 'My jaw DROPPED. How was I positive? I didn’t have the symptoms on the news.'

Julia Buscaglia, 20, told in terrifying detail how she experienced differing, additional symptoms to a fever and a dry cough. In fact, Buscaglia, a student at the University of Buffalo in upstate New York who moved to Florence in January, said she had a 'wet cough' and 'no symptoms were present that the CDC warned us about'

Posting to Twitter she explained how she returned home from hard hit Italy, where more than 6,000 people have died from coronavirus, at the beginning of March

She wrote: 'I flew home, and not a single person asked where I had been. Not even at customs. They didn’t blink an eye at me. I had layovers in LARGE cities. Again, there was no doubt in my mind that I didn’t have the virus.'

Her post has gone on to be liked more than 175,000 times and retweeted 74,000 times.

Julia told followers she 'woke up in agony' on February 29, adding: 'My head was pounding, my ears throbbing, and it felt as if my throat was on fire. My body ached, I had chills, and I had a fever of 100.2. I took over the counter anti-inflammatories and stayed in bed the entire day.'

She explained how saw a doctor the following day who told her she had a cold. She said: 'At this point, I had begun to lose hearing in my left ear, I figured it was congestion. Still I had NO cough.'

In her harrowing personal account Julia told how her hearing became 'significantly less', adding: 'As Italy was starting to become a place of concern our program urged us to return home.'

By March 3, her last day in Italy, Julia said she 'still couldn’t hear', adding: 'At this point I lost all ability to taste and smell, yet I did not have a runny nose or cough.

'I had a headache constantly during the day which I just treated with Tylenol. I left the next morning to return to America.'

By March 5 she was back in the US and in self quarantine.

On March 14 Julia said she was tested for the virus, adding: 'I was not planning on being tested. However, members of my family work in health care & wanted to be sure before returning to work. We had to ask to be tested, they refused until we asked repeatedly.'

Still with 'no symptoms, a slight remaining cough' Julia was told she had tested positive for COVID-19. She said: 'My jaw DROPPED. How was I positive? I didn’t have the symptoms on the news, I got cleared by a doctor, and no one cared at customs I had come from a high risk country.

'I guess why I’m telling you all of this is because what they are telling you are symptoms are not ALL symptoms. And you do NOT have to have the symptoms to be positive. The only symptom I had that was similar was a fever.

Julia urged her followers: 'But this is not a joke anymore. Please cancel your trips.

'I am completely healthy right now, but that doesn’t mean I’m cleared. And the same could be true of you. So please stay indoors. Be safe and smart. Limit your contact with individuals, because this is going to get worse before it gets better.

'To those of you in the same situation as me, I wish you all a speedy recovery and to stay healthy. Drink fluids and wash your hands. Please remember, just because you are not showing symptoms does NOT mean you do not have it.'