How Long Do Covid Symptoms Last – The Food and Drug Administration of the United States, like every COVID vaccine manufacturer in the country to make a variant-specific booster shot. Even the federal government has mentioned more than once that current vaccines and their booster shots of COVID-19 are not able to contain the spread of the virus.
Until we receive those variant-specific booster shots, it is our duty to ensure our safety along with the safety of our friends and family. Health experts around the world, including the World Health Organization, have already mentioned multiple times that the right knowledge regarding COVID can help the general public ensure their safety against the virus.
That is why today we are here to discuss how long COVID symptoms last. Things like that can help you recover faster and safely. Apart from that, it can also help you save some money. So without wasting any time, let’s take a look at the timeline of COVID-19.
The Incubation Period of the Virus 2 – 5 Days
Viruses like COVID-19 do not start showing symptoms as soon as you get exposed to the virus. There is always going to be some time between your exposure to the virus and the first day of your symptoms.
That time period between exposure and the first day of symptoms is called the incubation period of the disease. This time period is not just limited to COVID-19. It is also associated with every other virus in the world.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believe with currently dominating variants of COVID-19, the incubation period of the virus is around two to five days, depending on the timing system. The incubation period of the virus can be different for each person in the world.
Several factors can influence time. First of all, the variant of the virus is going to play a huge role in the size of the incubation. The original variant of COVID-19 was founded in Wuhan, China, back in 2019 after an incubation period of two weeks.
That clearly means people who get infected with the original variant of COVID-19 can start developing the symptoms of the virus within two weeks. The second thing which is going to influence the incubation period of the virus is the immune system of the person.
As you might already be aware, every person in this world has a different immune system. If you are among those few people who do not get any disease easily, you can even spend more than five days without developing any symptoms of COVID-19.
People who are struggling with any chronic disease are more vulnerable to any other disease and infection. Those people can get infected and add the symptoms of the virus within two days.
Even if you take a look at the guidelines released by the Centers for Disease Control and prevention regarding isolation and quarantine, you will see that the CDC suggests every word to isolate themselves for five days if they get exposed to the virus.
If you are among those people who have been recently exposed to the virus, then you should maintain social distance for the next 5 to 10 days. Most probably, you will start developing symptoms within five days, but you should not meet anyone vulnerable to getting very sick from COVID-19 till the 10th day.
Duration of Symptoms 5 – 10 days
Once you have crossed your incubation period and you start developing the symptoms of the virus, they can also stay in your system depending on several factors.
For example, the original variant of COVID-19 had symptom duration of around two weeks, and depending on your own immune system, you can recover before or after that time.
Currently, dominating variants of COVID-19 have the duration of symptoms around 5 to 10 days. If you get exposed to the virus on the 1st of September, and you start developing symptoms related to the virus on the 3rd of September, then there is a probability that you can recover by the 8th or 13th of September.
Even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have lowered the number in its latest guidelines. Current CDC guidelines of quarantine and isolation also mention that you should isolate or quarantine yourself for around 5 to 10 days, depending on the severity of symptoms.
People with lower immune strength might take longer than five days to recover, even with the currently dominating variants of COVID-19. The above-given numbers are just estimations. If you are struggling with any chronic disease, then you should consult with your COVID infection with your health care provider as you might require some additional medical assistance.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States believe if you are able to spend 24 hours fever free without using any fever-reducing medication, then you can endure isolation or quarantine.
Different variants of COVID-19 can have different Duration of symptoms after exposure. Apart from that, at any time of your infection, you are allowed to consult with your healthcare provider.
Precaution Period 5 – 10 Days
As per the guidelines released by the Centers for Disease Control and prevention regarding isolation and quarantine after getting exposed to COVID-19, you are allowed to end your isolation or quarantine after 5 days of your infection.
At the same time, you should also make sure that you are able to spend 24 hours fever free without using any fever-reducing medicine.
But, Even after those five days, you can still infect others who are more vulnerable to getting very sick from the virus. That is why you should keep following all the COVID protocol guidelines till the 10th day of your exposure to the virus.
The first few days from the recovery of the virus might be good for your overall health, but it can still affect others. There is a probability that others can get infected with a virus.
You should keep testing yourself on a daily basis, keep wearing a face mask and maintain social distance while you are in public places. You can avoid travel till the 10th day of the first day of your symptoms.
These things will help you ensure the safety of your friends and family along with your society.
All about Long COVID
Even if you have successfully recovered from COVID-19, it doesn’t mean that you can never get it, and there are no complications after that.
Every health expert and public Health Organization in the world has already mentioned several times that there is a condition called long COVID. That condition clearly means that you can get the symptoms of COVID-19 for a longer period of time without even testing positive for that.
Health experts, including the Centers for Disease Control and prevention of the United States, are yet to find out the right causes, symptoms, and accurate timeline.
Till now, CDC believes people who get very sick from COVID-19 or get re-infections are more vulnerable to developing long COVID. At the same time, it can have a huge list of symptoms, including mental and physical issues.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believe long COVID can affect every part of your body, including mental health.
There are not enough ways to prevent this condition other than preventing the infection of the virus in the first place. Even if you get infected with a virus in the first place, kindly make sure you are not getting very sick from the infection or getting re-infections.
Both of those things are known to increase the chances of a person getting long COVID, and there is no fixed timeline for that. There is a very high probability that a person can get long over sometimes for months to come.
If you are struggling with long COVID, then you might experience below given symptoms. These are among the most common symptoms of long COVID, and they all are mentioned by the Centers for Disease Control and prevention of the United States.
- 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
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believe there is no fixed treatment for long COVID conditions. The best way you can ensure your safety is by preventing the infection in the first place.
What is the timeline for COVID-19?
As per the latest guidelines released by the Centers for Disease Control and prevention regarding isolation and quarantine, a healthy person who gets infected with COVID-19 can start developing symptoms and get better within 15 days. Previously, the time period was around four to six weeks, but now it has been reduced to two weeks.