MACON, Ga. — It's the battle the world dealt with. The same battle that had most businesses and companies trading in boardrooms for virtual meeting rooms. COVID-19 changed our normal.
After catching COVID-19, Erin Jones is still feeling its effects long after. One symptom she notices is extreme fatigue.
"I would work, then go home and go to bed. Then, wake up and do the same thing. It's hard to explain because it's not like anything I have ever experienced before," explains Jones.
A doctor diagnosed Jones as a long hauler, someone with long COVID-19.
"It's a post-viral syndrome. With any severe viral infections, you can have post-viral symptoms that go on for months," says Dr. Jennifer Hoffman, an infectious disease physician with Piedmont Macon.
Dr. Hoffman says vaccinated people are less likely to be impacted by long COVID-19. They tend to become less sick.
Two new reports by the CDC discovered in 2022 about 18 million Americans reported having long COVID-19 at one point, and about 9 million said they currently had the condition. Dr. Hoffman says there are supportive treatments for long COVID-19. She also recommends Paxlovid.
"I strongly encourage people to try and get that. It needs to be taken within five days of developing symptoms of COVID-19," says Dr. Hoffman.
Jones still faces challenges after contracting COVID-19 years ago.
"It's been three and a half years. I still have trouble with smell and taste," says Jones.