Background We sought to delineate the clinical characteristics and imaging manifestations of the COVID-19 patients in a Fangcang shelter hospital in Wuhan. Methods From Feb 11, 2020 to March 8, 2020, the clinical, laboratory and HRCT features of 189 COVID-19 patients (23-74 years, 97 males, 92 females) were retrospectively collected and analyzed. Clinical and radiological data of patients with different sub-groups were compared. Results 127 (67.19%) patients have a BMI higher than 23 kg/m2. The most common symptoms of the patients were fever (154/189, 81.48%), cough (135/189, 71.43%) and fatigue (61/189, 32.28%). The average time for two consecutive negative nucleic acid tests was 15.44±4.50 days. The average time of hospitalization was 17.48±3.93 days. The majority of the patients had a normal white blood cell count (141/178, 79.21%), neutrophil percent (106/178, 59.55%), lymphocyte percent (107/178, 60.11%) and platelet count (162/177, 91.53%). Positive correlations were found between age and CT parameters (p<0.05), BMI and CT parameters (p<0.05) and temperature and CT parameters (p<0.05). Severity of CT parameters were not correlated to time for nucleic acid tests turning negative and duration of hospitalization (p>0.05). Patients with mild CT changes presented with slower recovery by follow-up compared with those more severe on initial (p<0.05). Conclusion Patients with COVID-19 infection usually have respiratory and non-respiratory symptoms and presented with typical ground-glass-opacities and other CT features, which showed significant correlations with age, BMI and highest temperature. Patients with mild opacifications on initial CT presented with slower recovery compared with those who were more severe on initial.