Covid-19 can be a prolonged illness, even for young adults, CDC report says

By Jen Christensen, CNN
Updated 2022 GMT (0422 HKT) July 24, 2020

(CNN) — Covid-19 can be a prolonged illness, even among young adults without underlying chronic medical conditions, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday. Thirty-five percent of those surveyed by the agency said they still weren't back to their usual good health even two to three weeks after testing positive for the disease.

The CDC had survey results from 292 people who had a positive test for Covid-19 and were treated as an outpatient from April 15 until June 25. The interviews were done 14 to 21 days after people were originally tested. The results were reported in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report on Friday.

Of those surveyed, 94% said they had at least one symptom when they went in for a Covid-19 test. People reported having a median number of seven of the 17 symptoms listed by the CDC. Fatigue was the most common complaint, followed by cough and a headache.

For the people whose symptoms lingered, 43% said they had a cough, 35% said they felt tired, and 29% said they were short of breath. The median time that they had been interviewed was 16 days from when 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 had a positive Covid-19 test.

-snip-