Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post
Patient Gary Cardona wears a pulse oximeter to keep track of his oxygen intake as he works out on the treadmill during his physical therapy at National Jewish Health in Denver on March 3, 2021. Cardona suffers from lingering symptoms of COVID-19 with the most bothersome being what he describes as brain fog and short term memory problems. He also has problems with balance and sustaining any hard activities. He got COVID-19 in Nov. and says he feels like he is a long hauler as he tries to deal with recovering from the disease. What he hates most is having to be on oxygen around the clock. Tens of thousands of people in the United States have lingering illness following COVID-19. The term long haulers is often associated with people suffering symptoms after getting COVID-19. Some published studies and surveys conducted by patient groups indicate that 50% to 80% of patients continue to have bothersome symptoms three months after the onset of COVID-19 Ñ even after tests no longer detect virus in their body. The most common symptoms of long haulers syndrome are fatigue, body aches, shortness of breath, difficulty concentrating, inability to exercise, headache, difficulty sleeping and brain fog. Since COVID-19 is a new disease that first appeared in Dec. 2019, there is not a lot of information on long-term recovery rates. 
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A study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looking at 353,000 COVID-19 survivors found that about one in four who are 65 or older and one in five adults younger than 65 developed a new health condition that could be related to their bout with the virus.
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