People who have been seriously unwell and treated in intensive care units can expect to take some months to recover fully, regardless of their ailment. However, with COVID-19, the evidence is mounting that some people who have had relatively mild symptoms at home may also have a prolonged illness. Overwhelming fatigue, palpitations, muscle aches, pins, and needles, and many more symptoms are being reported as aftereffects of the virus. Around 10 percent of the 3.9 million people contributing to the COVID Symptom Study app have effects lasting more than four weeks.
Chronic fatigue—classified as fatigue lasting more than six weeks—is recognized in many different clinical settings, from cancer treatment to inflammatory arthritis. It can be disabling. If 1 percent of the 290,000 or so people who have had COVID-19 in the UK remains under the weather at three months, this will mean thousands of people are unable to return to work. They will probably have complex needs that the NHS is ill-prepared to address at present.
