How long does COVID last – The positive cases of COVID-19 are easing down in the United States and most countries around the world. The 6th wave of COVID-19 seems to be at its lower end, where The daily positive cases of COVID-19 are falling at a much faster pace than we record.
Even though the cases are easing down, it doesn’t mean that they are completely free to go anywhere and the virus has been contained. The United States is still recording more than 90,000 positive cases each day. As for the seven-day average.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have not changed its guideline, where they suggest everyone learn about the virus as much as possible. We don’t know how much time vaccine manufacturers and the Food and Drug Administration of the United States require to approve the latest variant-specific vaccine booster.
That is why today we are here to discuss How long does COVID last so that you can ensure your safety along with the safety of your friends and family.
The incubation period is 3 – 5 days.
Every public Health Organization in the world, including the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and prevention of the United States, believes there is an incubation period of COVID-19 similar to any other infection in the world.
The incubation period of any virus or disease is a time period between a person getting exposed to the virus and developing the symptoms. In most infections, a person will get exposed to the virus much earlier than they start developing the symptoms.
In the case of COVID-19, the incubation period of the virus has been changing with each variant. The original variant of COVID-19 had an incubation period of around 10 to 14 days. This means a person who gets exposed to the original variant of COVID-19 will start developing the symptoms after 10 to 14 days of that exposure.
Currently dominating sub-variants of COVID-19 impose the risk and incubation period of around 5 to 10 days. If you get exposed to COVID-19, then there is a probability that you can start developing symptoms within 5 to 10 days.
In some cases, where the immune system offers a person who is not up to the mark, that person can start developing symptoms of COVID-19 as early as two days.
Even if you take a look at the guidelines provided by the Centers for Disease Control and prevention on isolation and quarantine, you will see they have also mentioned that you should be staying in isolation or quarantine for at least five days if you get exposed to the virus.
Apart from that, you can keep following all the COVID protocols till the 10th day of your exposure. Most people aren’t going to develop symptoms of COVID-19 during this Time.
Duration of symptoms 5 – 10 days
If you’re not a symptomatic person who is not going to develop any symptoms related to COVID-19 whatsoever, then you will start developing the symptoms after three or five days.
Similar to the incubation period of COVID-19, the duration of symptoms has also changed a lot with each variant. With the original variant of COVID-19, the duration of symptoms was around two to three weeks.
If anyone gets exposed to the original variant of COVID-19 and starts developing the symptoms, they can get better within two to three weeks.
As for the current isolation and quarantine guidelines released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States, the duration of COVID symptoms has been reduced to 5 to 10 days.
It means that if you get exposed to COVID-19, and start developing the symptoms after the incubation period, then there is a probability that you can get better within 5 to 10 days of the start of your symptoms.
Most people are going to get better from the symptoms of COVID-19 within five of their first day of symptoms, but you should be very careful till the 10th day. You can keep following all the COVID protocols till the 10th day, even if you have successfully recovered from the symptoms within the first five days.
Lastly, always remember that your immune system plays a huge role in your recovery. The above-given numbers are just taken from different studies, and they do not tell the reality.
People who are struggling with different medical conditions can take a longer time to recover as compared to a normal person. Apart from that, your previous exposure to COVID or your vaccination status can also play a huge role in your overall recovery.
At any point of your infection, you are allowed to consult with your healthcare provider. Yes, there is a huge probability that you will get better from the infection of the virus without consulting with your healthcare provider.
Post-infection 5 days
Once you have started recovering from your symptoms of COVID-19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States suggest you end your isolation or quarantine.
But, they also suggest you keep following COVID protocol till the 10th day you start developing symptoms of the virus. Those five days after the end of your quarantine are very important, and you should not take it lightly.
Even if you have started recovering from the symptoms, it doesn’t mean that you cannot infect anyone around you. Everyone, including kids, patients with chronic diseases, and old age people who are vulnerable to getting very sick from COVID-19, can get infected.
As per the Centers for Disease Control and prevention, you should be following regular use of face masks, regular COVID testing, and social distancing while you are in public places.
It is the COVID protocol and can help you and your family to ensure your safety against the virus.
Lastly, If you take a look at the overall timeline of COVID-19, you will see that a person can get better from the infection of COVID-19 from the first day of exposure within 10 to 15 days, depending on their immune system.
These numbers are just for reference, as the immune system of every person can be different. In the perfect case scenario, a person can get infected with a virus and get better within 10 days. On the other hand, it can also take months to get better if your COVID gets serious.
Long COVID timeline
Every Health Organization in the world, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have clearly mentioned several times that there is a probability of an open person experiencing a huge number of symptoms even if they have successfully recovered from COVID-19.
Those symptoms of COVID-19 can stay in your system for more than months without you getting tested positive for the virus. That condition is called long COVID, and people who get reinfection and those who are struggling with chronic diseases are more vulnerable to getting it.
As per the Centers for Disease control and prevention, people who get very sick from COVID-19 are more vulnerable to developing it.
Long COVID can affect every part of your body. Even the CDC has mentioned several times that it can affect your mental, physical and emotional health.
Health experts around the world believe that you should never ignore the infection of COVID-19 in the first place. There are not enough measures available to prevent symptoms of long COVID other than not getting infected with COVID-19 in the first place.
Even if you have been infected with COVID-19, then you should make sure that you are not getting very sick from the virus or you are not getting reinfection.
Both things are known to create conditions like long COVID. If you are struggling with long COVID, then you might experience below given symptoms.
- Tiredness or fatigue that interferes with daily life
- Symptoms that get worse after a physical or mental effort
- Fever
- Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
- Cough
- Chest pain
- Fast-beating or pounding heart
- Difficulty thinking or concentrating
- Headache
- Sleep problems
- Lightheadedness
- Pins-and-needles feelings
- Change in smell or taste
- Depression or anxiety
- Diarrhea
- Stomach pain
- Joint or muscle pain
- Rash
- Changes in menstrual cycles
There is no known treatment for long COVID other than protecting yourself from the infection in the first place. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States suggest everyone do everything in order to prevent the infection of COVID-19 in the first place.
Even if you have tested positive for COVID-19, you should try everything in your hand not to let the infection become serious. There is no diagnosis or anything else available for long Covid situations, and it can affect you for months to come.
How long is COVID going to stay in the body once you get exposed?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believe a person can get exposed to a virus, develop symptoms and get better from the symptoms within 10 to 15 days. Every person has a different immune system, and the number of days can be higher or lower depending on that.