What We Know About The Long-Term Impact Of 'Mild' Covid-19
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At the beginning of the pandemic, it was widely accepted that people with Covid-19 would, on average, recover in two weeks – but experts are slowly beginning to realise this isn’t always the case.
The Covid-19 Symptom Study suggests only 52% of people in the UK have recovered within 13 days, meaning hundreds are struggling for longer. Dubbed the ‘long-haulers’, these people are desperate for their voices to be heard when it comes to their experiences of ‘long Covid’.
People suffering long-term include those who had severe cases of coronavirus – and ended up in intensive care – as well as those who had ‘mild’ cases, and either stayed at home, or went to hospital but weren’t in intensive care.
As the virus is still so new, experts are only just beginning to learn what the long-term effects of mild Covid-19 are. The government has launched a study into the long-term health impacts of coronavirus – but only on hospitalised patients. Those who struggled with the virus at home are yet to be examined.
Professor Louise Wain, GSK / British Lung Foundation chair in respiratory research at the University of Leicester, who is involved with the ongoing study, said: “We anticipate that the results of our study may be relevant to individuals who were not hospitalised and who had mild disease, but who might also be suffering from, or at risk of developing, longer-term effects.”
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