COVID-19 long-haulers are COVID patients who experience the effects of the virus for much longer than the two-week expected recovery time, but some patients are reporting symptoms that linger for months after – and they don’t seem to be getting better anytime soon. 

Some of us don’t really realize the true effects of catching this virus. Some think it’s a hoax or that it’s only as bad as the flu, but we haven’t seen a global pandemic of this size for a century – and the United States was grossly unprepared. 

Most experience flu-like symptoms with added effects such as rashes, headaches, and losing taste and smell. But if you’re a COVID long-hauler, you’ll be feeling these effects for months and months, unable to work or get out of bed.

Becoming a long-hauler is more common than you might think. Researchers from Michigan noticed that over one in four COVID patients become long-haulers and they take extended amounts of time to get back to normal. 

You might think that not being able to taste your favorite snacks for a couple weeks may not be the worst thing in the world. But for COVID long-haulers, those foods can start to taste different and even rotten. 

Recovery lasts much longer and it takes a great toll on physical and mental health. Being sick is no fun but with the dreadful consequences of staying in bed all day, throwing up multiple times, and not wanting to eat anything, the disease destroys more than your immune system.

The virus attacks the lungs and kills healthy cells which can lead to lung failure. The worst COVID patients stay in the hospital for weeks but once they’re released to make room for even more infected patients, they leave with long-term consequences of the disease such as daily fatigue and persistent shortness of breath – or worse.

Just because it is a year later does not mean you should be any less scared of this virus. In fact, there were even deadlier strains of COVID found in the UK recently, and we have no idea what the long-term effects of this disease are.

Even if you get over the symptoms in a few weeks, who knows what the virus can do years down the line? How does it affect a child’s development if they catch it? What other diseases are you more open to catching? These are important questions to ask yourself the next time you go out or not wear proper protection.