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When COVID-19 Hangs Around For The Long Haul

A sign in front of a hospital instructs people to wear face masks in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.
A sign in front of a hospital instructs people to wear face masks in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.

Most Americans know that the absence of COVID-19 symptoms after a 14-day quarantine is a solid signal you don’t still have the virus.

But that’s not true in all cases… and in many, the effects of the virus linger for months and may cause damage that will last for years.

One group in Italy found that 87% of a patient cohort hospitalized for acute COVID-19 still had symptoms two months later.

As the pandemic has progressed, people with long-term symptoms have begun to be called “long-haulers.” 

Why is it that the symptoms of some COVID-19 cases persist for months? What do we still not understand about the virus?

Copyright 2020 WAMU 88.5

Kaity Kline
Kaity Kline is an Assistant Producer at Morning Edition and Up First. She started at NPR in 2019 as a Here & Now intern and has worked at nearly every NPR news magazine show since.