COVID-19

CDC: One-Third of COVID-19 Patients Who Aren't Hospitalized Have Long-Term Illness

One patient whose symptoms have lingered for months called the report 'monumental'

Full length rear view of male nurse pushing senior man on wheelchair at hospital corridor
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledged Friday that a significant number of COVID-19 patients do not recover quickly, and instead experience ongoing symptoms, such as fatigue and cough.

As many as a third of patients who were never sick enough to be hospitalized are not back to their usual health up to three weeks after their diagnosis, the report found, NBC News reports.

"COVID-19 can result in prolonged illness even among persons with milder outpatient illness, including young adults," the report's authors wrote.

The acknowledgment is welcome news to patients who call themselves "long-haulers" — suffering from debilitating symptoms weeks and even months after their initial infection.

The CDC report is based on telephone surveys of 274 COVID-19 patients. Ninety-five of those patients, or 35 percent, said they "had not returned to their usual state of health" when they were surveyed, which was at least two to three weeks after their first test.

Read the full story at NBCNews.com.

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