Based on the clinical characteristics of 258 patients with coronavirus disease 2019（COVID-19） in Shenzhen

combined with the understanding of the plague in Chinese medical literature such as Theory of Epidemic Disease（《温疫论》）

from the perspective of the infectiousness

epidemic

seasonality and clinical characteristics

it is proposed that the COVID-19 belongs to the "plague". It is believed that the "cold pestilence" and "cold damp pestilence" cannot explain the etiology and pathogenesis of COVID-19. Abnormal climate

warm pestilence mostly mixed with dampness

warm pathogen entering from the nose and mouth

first invading the lung

the characteristics and damp-heat pestilence and its evolution as well as the clinical characteristic of patients can provide evidence for the "damp-heat epidemic" of COVID-19. At the same time

when distinguishing COVID-19 as "damp-heat epidemic"

it is also necessary to pay attention to the following aspects

the damp-heat epidemic being a combination of cold and warm; aversion to cold and body pain being the initial symptoms of the damp-heat epidemic; white tongue coating or slippery tongue coating being the characteristic of tongue coating at the beginning of the damp-heat epidemic

and the symptoms changing after using western medicine.