It is an encapsulated RNA virus. That means it can not replicate on its own, and needs our bodies to do the work. It invades the cell, uses its machinery to replicate, and ultimately kills the cell.
When it has killed enough cells, it causes an immune response, which causes the initial symptoms you will begin to feel. It really likes the cells in the respiratory tract. In severe infections, it can also be detected in the kidneys, and we have detected virus in feces as well. At this point, it doesn’t seem to be blood born.
Most of the symptoms you have are from your body’s immune response, including what happens in severe illness causing ICU care.
This amazing picture from JAMA was found in the article linked below. It illustrates what the virus does to the body.
