Clodagh Finn: We need to start talking about Covid’s long tail

Recovery from the virus can be long and faltering, as Clodagh Finn found. So why aren’t we discussing the health and work implications of the slow recovery from coronavirus?

An Indian health worker takes a nasal swab sample to test for Covid-19 in Gauhati, India. Many people who have developed the disease around the world have had a long road to recovery. Picture: AP Photo/Anupam Nath

I DID something recently that I’ve never done before: I joined a support group. It turned out to be an inspired decision because it is one of the few places where I don’t feel I am imagining the bewildering range of coronavirus symptoms that have been with me for nearly five months now.

Like so many others, I got sick with Covid-like symptoms in late March. I had a fever, a dry cough, crushing fatigue and a sore throat. I was laid low for a number of weeks and then felt better. Then, the collection of symptoms came back. They left briefly but returned again. And again. And again. And again.