Doctors say COVID-19 patients could experience symptoms long after testing negative

Are you dealing with the effects of COVID-19 long after getting the all-clear? More and more people are saying they are still dealing with the symptoms even after testing negative, post contracting the virus.

Doctors tell us if you had mild symptoms of the virus you’ll probably have a normal and quick recovery.

It’s the people who fall into the moderate to severe category that could see a damaging impact on their health that could last for months.

“There are some reports of long-term neurological changes, we know there are kidney changes, we don’t know what all of those problems are right now. We just know they are occurring,” said Dr. David Lindner, the medical director at NCH Hospital.

So what should you do if you are recovering from COVID- 19 and are experiencing this?

Studies show the typical symptoms are fatigue and shortness of breath. Dr. Loureen Downes with Florida Gulf Coast University says if it’s mild and bearable you can wait, but otherwise, your physician needs to be contacted.

She says the fact that we are seeing these long term health effects is a reminder we need to take this seriously.

“This study tells us that this is a serious virus and it’s better not to be exposed to it. What it tells me is that we still need to be very cautious about how we go out and they were consistently wearing a face covering and wearing it properly,” Downes said.

Both doctors stressed that there are still so many unknowns about this virus and its impact, and more research needs to be done.