How Long-Term is Long COVID? Experts Weigh In

The Biden administration announced Tuesday that it is taking further action in understanding and analyzing Long COVID-19, a condition where symptoms of the virus persist for an extended period of time.

According to broad estimates by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), around 8 to 23 million Americans are affected by Long COVID.

"The federal government is taking steps to fund more research and help affected people," the government agency said in a statement. "The full magnitude of health and economic effects is unknown but is expected to be significant."

Experts are yet to fully understand Long COVID, so identifying and treating it can be very difficult. There’s no limit to who it can affect, although health officials do not all see eye to eye on how it is exactly defined, according to CNN.

Long COVID symptoms can range from physical ailments to mental illness. The CDC’s list of post-COVID conditions includes fatigue, trouble thinking, change in taste or smell, changes in mood, and many more.

A study published in February in the medical journal BMJ found that those who have recovered from COVID-19 have an increased risk of developing mental health disorders.

“The findings suggest that people who survive the acute phase of COVID-19 are at increased risk of an array of incident mental health disorders,” the authors of the study said. “Tackling mental health disorders among survivors of COVID-19 should be a priority.”

Yale School of Medicine immunologist Dr. Akiko Iwasaki directed a study in January to expose the possible long-term effects of the coronavirus. She discovered that even those who endured milder symptoms of the disease can potentially suffer long-term neurological damage.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced in February that it will initiate an approach to study Long COVID and that over $1 billion in funding has been secured to support the research over the next four years.

"Our hearts go out to individuals and families who have not only gone through the difficult experience of acute COVID-19, but now find themselves still struggling with lingering and debilitating symptoms," the NIH said. "We now ask the patient, medical, and scientific communities to come together to help us understand the long-term effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection, and how we may be able to prevent and treat these effects moving forward."