The CDC obtained survey results from 292 people who tested positive for Covid-19 and were treated as outpatients from April 15 to June 25. The interviews were conducted between 14 and 21 days after the people were originally tested. The results were reported in the CDC Weekly Morbidity and Mortality Report on Friday.
For people whose symptoms persisted, 43% said they had a cough, 35% said they felt tired, and 29% said they were short of breath. The median time they had been interviewed was 16 days since they tested positive.
Sixty-five percent of those surveyed said they had returned to their usual state of health five to 12 days after they obtained a positive Covid-19 test.
Age seemed to play a role in whether someone still felt sick weeks after a positive test. More than people in the demographic age 50 and older, 47%, said they still had symptoms weeks after their test. In comparison, among people ages 18 to 34, 26% said they still had symptoms. For people in the 35-49 age range, 32% said they had not yet recovered health.
The more chronic conditions someone had, the more likely they were to still have persistent symptoms. But even 1 in 5 younger people ages 18 to 34 who did not have chronic medical conditions said they had not fully recovered.
The authors of the new CDC study argue that public health leaders should remind people who don’t take Covid-19 seriously that even younger, healthier adults who contract a milder form of the disease can have symptoms for weeks. .
People should take precautions, the CDC said, and frequently wash their hands, wear a mask in public, and physically keep distance from others to slow the spread of Covid-19.
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