Covid -19 effects: 5 years later -symptoms, guidelines and how the virus has changed our lives

New York (WABC) – March marked for five years since the Covid 19 virus in the New York City metropolitan region had a grip on, which led to a closure and tens of thousands of deaths.

While the world may no longer be in a global pandemic, Sean Clarke, a professor of nurse at New York University, said that Covid was still a constant presence.

“The virus is still stubborn and is still moving. It is still not a trivial thing,” Clarke told ABC News. “It has not disappeared, it is only at a different point.”

According to the World Health Organization, over 7 million lives have been lost to the virus since 2020. And life continues to be lost.

In the last 28 days there have been more than 3,000 deaths in Covid-199, and US deaths taken into account in Covid-199, and US deaths.

While COVID-19 vaccines are available for adults and children, the vaccination rates are low. From February 22, according to the centers for the control and prevention of diseases, less than 25% of adults were vaccinated with the updated 2024-25 COVID-19 vaccine.

In addition to active COVID-19 cases, many patients have reported that they have experienced long Covid-19, where the symptoms exist after the first infection. According to the Mayo Clinic, some researchers estimated that 10% to 35% of people who had Covid-19 had a long time.

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Symptoms of covid

The following list of centers for the control and prevention of diseases does not contain all possible symptoms. The symptoms can change with new Covid 19 variants and can vary depending on the vaccination status. Possible symptoms are:

Fever or chills
Cough
Shortness of breath or difficulties in breathing
Sore throat
Overload or running nose
New loss of taste or smell
fatigue
Muscles or body pain
Headache
Nausea or vomiting
Diarrhea

Visit the CDC for updates.

Covid -insulation guidelines

The health effects of Covid-19 are now similar to other respiratory viruses such as flu, which are also important causes of illness and death, especially for people with higher risk. As a result, the CDC has shifted to a uniform breathing virus guide rather than additional instructions for every specific virus.

In the updated guidelines of the breathing virus, it recommends that people stay at home and from others until at least 24 hours after both symptoms become better overall and they did not have a fever (and do not use fever -reducing medication).

Visit the CDC for updates.

Frequently asked questions about Covid

Here are answers to what doctors say are some of the most common questions that you still get about Covid -19 – and some questions you want you to hear more often.

Do I really need a different vaccination?

It is the most common question that LEE receives of patients and families, and a Dr. Susan Fuchs, a lawyer of doctor in the emergency room of Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital, hears variations of.

Some people ask: “Is it worth a vaccine?” The answer is, said Fuchs, who is also a professor of pediatrics at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago.

Fuchs admitted that the vaccines are not always stuck – it was vaccinated and had Covid -19 twice. However, vaccines protect against serious illnesses, hospital stays and death, according to the centers for the control and prevention of diseases, which recommends vaccination for every 6 months or older.

Are Covid-19 vaccines safe?

Fuchs wishes that more people would come to her with their worries about the security and side effects of vaccines. Most people, she said, could hardly endure more than a painful arm or an inferior fever. Other frequent side effects are muscle pain, joint pain, fatigue, headache or chills.

“There are minor side effects for most vaccines,” said Fuchs. “But it is better than getting the actual illness.”

The approved vaccines are still being monitored, she said. And “at the moment we say it is a safe vaccine – no matter which you get from the company.”

Who has the answers to Booster or others?

Fuchs said that people do not ask about the development of different covid 19 variants how they once did, but people can easily be confused about how often they have to update their vaccination.

Your advice: “Go to your family doctor.”

Lee said it was easy for people to feel overwhelmed when “so many different sources come to all of them”. She regularly hears from patients or family members who have heard the concern of friends or in the church or have read online that they want to inquire with them. “I absolutely love and welcome these conversations,” she said.

Am I ever getting better?

Most patients who interact with HSU have long covid, a selection of symptoms that take four weeks or more after the first infection. People who ask him, “Will this shorten my life? Are people better?”

Researchers don't have all the answers, said HSU. But a large number of people – many of them previously young, active and healthy – “are now effectively hindered due to long covid.”

Some people with long covid – maybe a third – have gotten better, he said, but “I think the majority of people are still with persistent symptoms and is far towards their baseline.”

Researchers learn how the virus can survive in the body for years, said HSU, and they have seen indications that abnormal blood clotting could be the root of some problems.

He is confident that treatments are found, but at the moment the answers to long covid are reminiscent of how doctors felt at the beginning of the pandemic. “We want to help, but we still have no effective therapies that we can help.”

He wishes to ask more people how to limit the spread of the virus. HSU said that people who had an easy case of Covid-19 may not be so afraid to be infected again.

But the risks of heart diseases, stroke, high blood pressure and other diseases increase after an infection, he said. And every infection could become serious or lead to long covid.

He emphasized how serious Lang can be Covid. Some of his patients are formerly energy -rich, highly followed people who are now so drained that they cannot come out of bed to get to their clinic. “I can only see her virtually and it's only devastating.”

How can I and the people around me protect myself?

Like HSU said Lee, she wished she heard this question more often.

“Before Covid, this would invent the flu book,” said Lee. “Young, healthy people would say: 'Well, you know, I'm not really too sick of the flu. I don't really have to take care of it.' And my plea has always been: “Well, think of your grandmother or neighbor or the person with whom you work with”, or someone who takes care of a child with a disability at home.

According to the CDC, the age is the strongest risk factor for severe covid-19, and the risk becomes higher if the elderly gets. Other high -risk groups include people with underlying diseases such as heart disease, people with dialysis and people with oppressed immune systems.

Staying vaccinations up to date is an important way to protect it, said HSU.

“I'm not one who just blindly says everyone should get a vaccine,” he said. “I understand that everyone has their own approach to weigh the risks and advantages of the vaccine. I am concerned that the risks of the vaccine are real, but were overestimated by influential voices in social media.”

Beyond the vaccines, Lee said that the Council is on the pandemic tip when limiting the spread of the virus. “If you are sick, stay at home. If someone is sick, don't let him come.”

She recognized how important it is to remain socially connected, especially for older people. “I want people to visit their older adults in their lives and spend time with them and pick up the phone and speak to them because I think that the flip page is too careful or scared when someone gets sick is social isolation.”

But she added: “I want you to do it for sure if everyone feels good.”

Covid-19 and the flu are similar in that some people may relieve them if they had only mild cases in the past, said Lee. But both can be fatal. And even if they are not fatal, a case of both who requires a hospital stay can have many unintentional consequences, especially for older adults, which sometimes leads to permanent disability.

“This is something that many people don't consider,” said Lee, “and it is not something that most people want to confront.”

Fuchs said parents shouldn't send their children back to school until they were feverish for 24 hours without medication. And she still wears a mask at work because she does not want to spread Covid-19 from patient to patients.

The recommendation of HSU is “If it is clear that cases are increasing, it may be a good time to pay attention to a mask in public” and to ensure that large meetings are held either outdoors or in a well -ventilated area.

“I also think that it is really important to take better care of ourselves and our bodies,” said HSU with a healthy diet, regular exercise and medical examinations. “I think these measures can make us more resistant to an infection.”

Lee agreed to HSU's advice that he was running with routine health demonstrations that may have been delayed during the pandemic. This can be a good time to see as far as Covid-19 that concerns someone concerns, she said.

“It is stressful to try to understand all the things you hear or read,” said Lee, but there is an easy way to avoid this stress about health concerns. “Take off the listener and make an appointment.”

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Some information from ABC News, The Associated Press and American Heart Association News that cover the health of the heart and brain. Not all views expressed in this story reflect the official position of the American Heart Association. Copyright is owned by the American Heart Association, Inc., and all rights are reserved.

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