Clinics to help people with long-lasting COVID symptoms are being created all over the country, including two in Cleveland.
Nearly 1 million Ohioans have been infected with coronavirus since last March, and some have reported symptoms that just won't go away, affecting their daily lives even months later.
Patients can suffer breathing problems, fatigue, cognitive disorders, and even rashes and hair loss. The issues are serious and long-lasting enough that they seek medical help, says Dr. Kristin Englund, who runs the Cleveland Clinic’s reCOVer outpatient clinic.
Englund has treated around 120 patients, almost two-thirds of whom were not hospitalized for COVID-19. In fact, she said some are still apparently having trouble taking the coronavirus pandemic seriously.
“I would literally be upstairs seeing patients struggling for life on a vent, and then come downstairs and hear somebody telling me that they don’t believe that virus is real," Englund said.
Doctors and front-line health care workers throughout the pandemic have reported seeing patients who deny the virus is real, despite the deaths of more than 541,000 Americans and more than 18,000 Ohioans.
Englund said vaccines have provided her with hope, because it’s important to keep the virus from spreading and so it doesn’t mutate into vaccine and treatment-resistant variants. But she's still worried.
About 120 long-haul COVID patients have been treated at the reCOVer outpatient clinic at the Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Kristin Englund told @karenkasler on @stateofohioshow that 65% weren't hospitalized for COVID but have lasting issues, and some still don't see how serious COVID is. pic.twitter.com/xEpk5fy8rC
— "The State Of Ohio" (@stateofohioshow) March 19, 2021
Another long-haul COVID clinic is operating at MetroHealth in Cleveland.
What questions do you still have about COVID-19 and Ohio's response? Ask below and WOSU may answer as part of our series A Year Of COVID.
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