for every person who dies of covid, there are far more who live on with health problems that last well after their initial diagnosis, including chest pain, abdominal pain, chronic fatigue, severe shortness of breath and even stroke and diabetes.
one in five covid patients is so seriously impacted that they emerge with a new disability, and one in three experiences neurological or psychiatric illness that persists long after the defined “recovery period.” and the cognitive impairments can be so severe that simply reading an email becomes an impossible task.
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relationships also crumble under the lifestyle changes and physical, mental and financial burdens created by this ongoing struggle, with divorce rates increasing rapidly as the number of people with post-covid symptoms grows.
depression has doubled during the pandemic too, growing especially pronounced for the unemployed, and as jonah mcgarva, founder of long covid canada said about his ordeal, which has lasted over a year, “it wears down your sense of self-worth.”
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