How Long Does Covid Last? – Duration of Covid Symptoms

How Long Does Covid Last – Once a person has been exposed to COVID, COVID is going to last between 5 to 15 days. This time frame is for people who are healthy and who are not struggling with any chronic condition. COVID is going to last a little bit longer for people who are already struggling with any chronic conditions or have developed severe symptoms.

Allow me to explain how long COVID lasts in-depth and clear all of your doubts. 

 Even after 2 ½ years, developed Western nations, including the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, and Australia, are still struggling with the COVID outbreak. Most of these countries have already decided to introduce a policy to live with COVID. 

Even you can see in their guidelines and regulations to enter the country. You will see that these countries are trying to live with COVID and consider COVID as a general disease. Nowadays, people don’t have to spend weeks in quarantine centers before they are allowed to enter any of these countries.

This thing did not happen overnight as the virus, which is responsible for COVID-19 infection, is also getting less severe. It also became one of the biggest reasons for the changes in the COVID timeline.

The Incubation Period of COVID-19

Similar to every other virus-borne disease, COVID-19 also has an incubation period, which is going to change with each variant.

The incubation period of a virus is the time frame between a person getting exposed to the virus and starting to develop symptoms associated with the disease. 

This time frame is not fixed as it can change depending on the type of virus and the variant of the virus. Previously, the incubation period of COVID-19 was around 7 to 14 days, with an average of 10 days. That incubation period was associated with the original variant of COVID-19.

Current variants of COVID-19 have an incubation period of over two to five days.

Yes, the incubation period of COVID-19 has reduced along with the variants. Previous variants of COVID-19, such as the original variant, were more deadly, and they even took a little bit longer to start developing the symptoms.

Another thing you should remember at this point is that these new variants are also not as deadly as the previous ones. New variants are not causing severe infection as most people are getting better without even any medicine or medical assistance.

Another interesting data point is also suggesting that the number of asymptomatic people has increased in the last few months. It means that people are getting infected without even developing any symptoms associated with the virus.

Even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest everyone stay in isolation for five days if they have been exposed to a virus.

Duration of COVID Symptoms

To understand the whole timeline of COVID-19, We should understand the duration of symptoms as it is going to play a vital role in the whole timeline.

Previously, people who were exposed to the original variants of COVID-19 had to spend around 10 to 14 days in isolation as the duration of symptoms was also longer.

Symptoms of COVID-19 with the latest variants can last around 5 to 10 days.

The above-given numbers are for people who are not struggling with any severe diseases or have not been considered immunocompromised. For more details, you can always consult with your healthcare provider, as you never know how much time the infection can take.

Another interesting thing about the duration of symptoms is that most people are getting better without even any medicine or medical assistance After getting infected with these new variants.

These new variants of COVID-19 might be spreading at rapid speed, but they are not imposing severe risks like the original variants of COVID-19. Most public health organizations, including the CDC, have already mentioned it multiple times in the public data cases of COVID-19 with the new variants might be rising at rapid speed, but they are not imposing any severe risk.

Yes, there is always a risk that a person will develop severe symptoms of the virus, but those chances have gone very low as compared to the original variant.

Even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest everyone end their isolation after five days of developing the symptoms. You just have to make sure that you can spend 24 hours fever free without using any fever-reducing medicine.

At the same time, you can also make sure that your symptoms are getting better.

Recovery Time Frame

Even though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest everyone end their isolation after five days of infection, it doesn’t mean that you are completely free from infection.

If you take a deep look at the CDC isolation and quarantine guidelines, you will find that they have mentioned that you should be following COVID protocol till the 10th day you start developing the symptoms associated with the virus.

Regardless of your vaccination status, you can end your isolation if you are getting better and you can live fever free without using any fever-reducing medicine.

Even after all that, you will have to follow COVID protocol till the 10th day, and you can consult more about it with your healthcare provider.

You are going to be infectious even after the 10th day, and the CDC suggests everyone not get in touch with people who are immune compromised or vulnerable to developing severe symptoms associated with the virus. 

We highly recommend everyone give at least 15 days in recovery from the day they start developing symptoms associated with the virus.

How to Prevent the COVID Infection?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest everyone prevent infection by COVID-19 in the first place. There is no approved treatment for COVID-19, and it is always going to be in your favor if you can prevent the infection in the first place.

A lot of things have changed in the United States since the first outbreak of the virus. Variants of COVID-19 have changed multiple times so does the mindset of the general public.

Even after 2 ½ years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have not changed its guidelines associated with the prevention of COVID-19.

Follow the COVID Protocol.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest everyone follow the COVID protocol as it is much more capable of preventing the infection.

First of all, you should make sure that you are up to date with your COVID vaccine. Despite all the rumors and developments in vaccines, the COVID vaccine is still capable of providing enough immune power to prevent the virus. You can get yourself vaccinated with the primary series along with the updated COVID booster shot.

Secondly, you should keep using a high-quality mask whenever you are in public places. Regardless of their vaccination status, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest everyone keep wearing a high-quality mask whenever they are in public places.

At the same time, you can also avoid visiting any place where you are not able to keep wearing your mask.

Lastly, whenever you are in public places, make sure you are using sanitizer and maintaining social distancing. A distance of 2 meters, along with a high-quality mask and COVID vaccine, can lower the risk of infection by 99%.

Recently, a lot of people started protesting against the use of the COVID protocol. People did not like that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asked everyone to wear a mask whenever they were in public places, especially public transport.

Despite all these things, we highly recommend everyone to keep following the COVID protocol as it is much more capable of preventing the infection in the first place.

Treatment of COVID-19

If you have recently tested positive for COVID-19 and you are looking for treatment options, then we highly recommend you consult with your healthcare provider.

The treatment option for each person is going to build a little bit different as there is no fixed treatment available for the infection. 

A huge number of people might not even require any medicine or medical assistance to recover from these symptoms. At the same time, a lot of people might even require some steroids to regain their strength.