Would some pathologist explain to me how they know it's the coronavirus?

[Hortensis]

5. Fortunately not exactly critical to patient care, since

that's currently limited to treating symptoms. Though desirable for prognosis of disease course, etc.

I remember that during a big influenza A outbreak, because of long lab delays, eventually lab-based diagnosis was typically dispensed with, again the results mostly irrelevant to clinicians in outbreak areas who recognized the patterns and of course immediately started treating symptomatically.

I also remember that, before that in another outbreak, all the clinicians whose reports I edited, most of my clients in California at that time, suddenly started diagnosing "viral illness." That held true even when lab-confirmed diagnoses were in the chart, so I assumed they were directed o to avoid "over-alarming" the public.