Early research suggested that it could take 2 weeks for your body to get over a mild illness, or up to 6 weeks for severe or critical cases. Newer data show that recovery varies for different people, depending on things like your age and overall health.
How long they last, however, can depend on the person, the severity of their infection and whether or not they end up with long COVID. "Some people say they feel better in a day, some people say they still have lingering symptoms after three weeks," Welbel said.
Those who do get infected with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 will likely remain infectious no longer than 10 days after symptoms begin. Individuals with severe-to-critical illness stemming from a COVID infection likely aren't infectious 20 days after symptoms first began.
If after five days you are fever-free for 24 hours without the use of medication, and your symptoms are improving, or you never had symptoms, you may end isolation. But if you're still getting a positive test after six to 10 days, Arwady said you could still be contagious.
People with post-COVID conditions can have a wide range of symptoms that can last more than four weeks or even months after infection. Sometimes the symptoms can even go away or come back again.
For most people who get COVID-19, symptoms get better within a few weeks. But some people, especially those who got sick enough to need to go to the hospital, continue to have symptoms for longer. These can be mild or more serious.
If you test positive for COVID-19, stay home for at least 5 days and isolate from others in your home. You are likely most infectious during these first 5 days. Wear a high-quality mask if you must be around others at home and in public. Do not go places where you are unable to wear a mask.
If a person develops symptoms within 10 days of testing positive, their 5-day isolation period should start over (day 0 changes to the first day of symptoms). People who cannot wear a mask, including children < 2 years of age and people of any age with certain disabilities, should isolate for 10 days.
Are you still contagious? A cough can last for a while after any viral infection, and it does not necessarily mean you're contagious. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), people with mild to moderate cases of COVID-19 are infectious for no more than 10 days after symptom onset.
Those with severe COVID-19 may remain infectious beyond 10 days and may need to extend isolation for up to 20 days. People who are moderately or severely immunocompromised should isolate through at least day 20.
Studies suggest that reinfection with SARS-CoV-2 with the same virus variant as the initial infection or reinfection with a different variant are both possible; early reinfection within 90 days of the initial infection can occur.
The role of antibodies in COVID-19 immunity is constantly changing. Because of this, research is chasing to keep up with this rapidly-evolving virus. Evidence suggests that most people dont gain natural immunity to the Omicron subvariants from previous variants, and that overall vaccine effectiveness fades with time. However, booster doses of vaccines still provide very good protection against severe COVID-19 illness and hospitalizations. But, its not clear yet how well vaccine or natural immunity protect against long COVID. Only time will tell.
Most people have mild illness and are able to recover at home.
Symptoms of Omicron can be similar to the original COVID-19 virus and other variants, which can include a combination of the following: fever, cough, congestion, runny nose, headache, sore throat, muscle pains/aches and fatigue. “Fever, cough and headache look to be the most common symptoms from the current data.
“You should be hydrated enough so that your urine is almost clear,” says Dr. Yu. If you have diarrhea or if you're sweating from a fever or chills, make sure you have salt or a little sugar in your fluids—think broths, fresh juices or electrolyte solutions like Gatorade—because salt and sugar can help you retain water.
Some of the things you can do to speed your healing are similar to how you might take care of the flu or a bad cold. Eat healthy foods. If you feel like eating, fuel your body with the vitamins and nutrients it needs to get better. Limit sugary or highly processed foods like cookies and sodas.