Covid lungs look much different that Legionnaires lungs. Also, lab values are hugely different. Legionnaires would have elevated WBC, liver enzymes and inflammatory markers and elevated Ferritin. Covid has elevated LDH, D-dimer , decreased WBC. The two do not present similarly clinically.
Yes. Covid lungs are unique to covid if the lungs are affected for the particular patient. There are specific laboratory markers that ED physicians treat from since covid testing is both iffy and has a 2-3 day turnaround in more rural areas. IMO the majority of COVID deaths at the beginning was because this is truly a novel virus and we attempted to treat it like a traditional coronavirus. Covid-19 is much like Frankenstein. This virus did NOT evolve.