Patients—and Providers—Need to Know COVID-19 Symptoms Linger Even After Recovery

Don’t be surprised if patients who have “recovered” from COVID-19 present with concerns that they might not be getting better after all. A research letter just published online by JAMA Network indicates that most patients have persistent symptoms of infection even 60+ days after diagnosis. Based on 143 confirmed cases in Italy, they report that 87.4 of patients complained of at least one symptoms of COVID-19 even after meeting World Health Organization criteria for discontinuing quarantine (at least 3 consecutive days without fever, improvement in other symptoms, and two negative tests for SARS-CoV-2). Subjects were assessed a mean of 60.3 days after onset of their first COVID-19 symptoms; 32% had up to two symptoms, while 55% had three or more symptoms. None of the patients had a fever or signs of acute illness. This phenomenon is important for urgent care operators to be aware of at a time when they’re trying to reduce exposure to active COVID-19 cases while also treating more patients.