For the estimated 23 million Americans who have developed symptoms of long COVID, the end of the country’s Public Health Emergency on May 11 will not bring relief. Moreover, in the months ahead, many more individuals will be diagnosed as having 1 or more of the approximately 203 symptoms that characterize the condition. The most common of those include shortness of breath, physical exhaustion and exercise intolerance, and “brain fog.”
The US health care provider community continues to do its collective best to cope with the protean condition. A poll by the de Beaumont Foundation in late 2022 found that three-quarters of physician respondents said the condition is a problem, but only 7% report being “very confident” about diagnosing long COVID and only 4% expressed that level of confidence in treating it. More clinician thoughts follow in this topline look at the poll findings.