U.S. study shows most long COVID patients weren’t hospitalized for initial illness

The large U.S. study adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting people with mild or moderate initial coronavirus infections, including those without any underlying medical conditions, can still experience debilitating symptoms. It found that for 76% of the patients, the initial coronavirus infection didn’t make them sick enough to require hospitalization. Yet months later, they were experiencing symptoms, ranging from breathing problems to extreme fatigue to cognitive and memory issues, that were diagnosed as post-COVID conditions. Another striking finding was that nearly one-third of the patients didn't have pre-existing health conditions. The findings suggest a potentially staggering impact of long COVID on people in the prime of their lives and on society at large. Nearly 35% of the patients were between ages 36-50, while nearly one-third were ages 51-64 and 17 per cent were ages 23-35.