When Will It Be Over?

And speaking of spoiler alerts, here’s another one. If you ask when will COVID-19 be over, the short answer is never. It has already become endemic. There will be outbreaks forever. Not only that but we will be dealing with the health consequences of COVID-19 forever as this New York Times article by Pam Belluck documents:

Hundreds of thousands of Americans have sought medical care for post-Covid health problems that they had not been diagnosed with before becoming infected with the coronavirus, according to the largest study to date of long-term symptoms in Covid-19 patients.

The study, tracking the health insurance records of nearly two million people in the United States who contracted the coronavirus last year, found that one month or more after their infection, almost one-quarter — 23 percent — of them sought medical treatment for new conditions.

Those affected were all ages, including children. Their most common new health problems were pain, including in nerves and muscles; breathing difficulties; high cholesterol; malaise and fatigue; and high blood pressure. Other issues included intestinal symptoms; migraines; skin problems; heart abnormalities; sleep disorders; and mental health conditions like anxiety and depression.

Post-Covid health problems were common even among people who had not gotten sick from the virus at all, the study found. While nearly half of patients who were hospitalized for Covid-19 experienced subsequent medical issues, so did 27 percent of people who had mild or moderate symptoms and 19 percent of people who said they were asymptomatic.

to which I would add that the notion that only 10% of Americans have had COVID-19 is absurd on its face. I don’t know whether 20% of Americans, 30%, or 50% have had it. I don’t believe for a second that only 10% have had it. As the article observes just because you didn’t experience symptoms of COVID-19 does not mean that you won’t experience side effects. And we probably won’t know for decades what the long term health implications of COVID-19 are. We can safely assume that COVID-19 is going to increase health care spending in the U. S. forever.