Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Know More about Recovery from COVID-19


Mon 06 Apr 2020 | 09:20 PM
Hassan El-Khawaga

To date, COVID-19 has been responsible for more than 1,312,585 infections globally, causing more than 72,636 deaths. More than 275,087 have so far recovered.

Knowing the real number of infected people in the population would be very useful to have better models of when the disease will peak and decline, and also when we can begin to return people to work, Dr. Magdy Badran says.

What is The Recovery Rate?

The vast majority of people who catch COVID-19 will make a complete recovery.

In Italy, an epicenter of the new coronavirus outbreak, the death rate at the end of March stood at a sobering 11%. Meanwhile, in neighboring Germany, the same virus led to fatality rates of just 1%. In China, it was 4%.

The mortality rate among confirmed cases was 4%. Though the good news is the true figure is likely to be lower, because of large numbers of unreported people with mild symptoms. The eventual toll maybe around 1%.

The reassuring tipping point to bear in mind is that around one month after the initial outbreak in China, with strict containment measures in place, the number of recoveries began to outstrip the number of new cases.

This is the point the containment measures are hoping to reach.

Recovery at Home

Most people with COVID-19 have mild illness and can recover at home without medical care, while severe cases often receive supportive care in the hospital.

The mild or moderate disease usually refers to somebody who is well enough to remain in their home. The severe disease would be someone who requires hospitalization because they're so sick.

Mild coronavirus can feel pretty miserable. A dry cough, sore throat, shortness of breath and fever are hallmarks of COVID-19.

Fevers tend to below-grade. Patients describe feeling run down. Some experience chest pain as a part of their illness. This type of chest pain, called substernal chest pain, involves an ache in the middle of your chest, under the breastbone. Resting should relieve the shortness of breath.

Staying hydrated is important. Viral illness and fever can lead to dehydration. Increased thirst, dry mouth, urinating less than usual, dizziness and fatigue are dehydration signs. It is essential to drink plenty of water and other fluids to stay well-hydrated.

Self-isolation protects others in the household. COVID-19 is highly contagious. It does seem that this is much more transmissible than the flu.

Self-isolation during recovery is important. If possible, stay in a separate room, use a separate bathroom if available, practice respiratory etiquette – like covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze, either with a tissue or your inner elbow – and wear a face mask if you need to be around others.

Avoid sharing towels, bedding, utensils, dishes and other personal items. Clean frequently touched surfaces like doorknobs, tabletops, and counters.

Self-isolation lasts for roughly 14 days. It's important to be cleared by a health provider before discontinuing home isolation, as the duration varies by the inpidual case.

Coronavirus Lingers After Symptoms Resolve in Some Patients

People who contract the novel coronavirus emit high amounts of virus very early on in their infection. That may help to explain the rapid and efficient way in which the virus has spread around the world.

While people with mild infections can still test positive by throat swabs for days and even weeks after their illness, those who are only mildly sick are likely not still infectious by about 10 days after they start to experience symptoms.

Shedding from the upper airways early in infection makes for a virus that is much harder to contain. The scientists said at peak shedding, people with COVID-19 are emitting more than 1,000 times more virus than was emitted during peak shedding of SARS infection, a fact that likely explains the rapid spread of the virus. The SARS outbreak was contained after about 8,000 cases.

Research from Germany has suggested that COVID-19 infectiousness – in contrast to the 2003 SARS outbreak – peaks early and that recovering patients with mild symptoms become low-risk around 10 days after they first fall ill.

But another study, following four medical professionals treated at a Wuhan hospital, revealed that traces of the virus could persist in the body for up to two weeks after symptoms had vanished; as the patients were no longer coughing or sneezing, the potential means of transmission were albeit much reduced.

Can You Get COVID-19 Twice?

While the recovery rate is promising, it does not mean that those who have been infected with coronavirus are not still at risk, as experts believe having the virus once does not mean you cannot get sick from it again.

Catching a coronavirus generally means that person is immune, at least for a time, to repeat infection.

Research from Guangdong province, China reporting that 14% of recovering patients had also retested positive.

In late February when a woman in her late 40s who had been discharged from hospital in Osaka, Japan tested positive a second time for COVID-19.

There was also a similar case with one of the Diamond Princess passengers, and another in South Korea. Our immune response to this particular disease is not yet clearly understood.

How Long Might Immunity to COVID-19 Last?

Recovery data also could indicate how easily people can build immunity against the virus. There hasn’t been enough time to research COVID-19 to determine whether patients who recover from COVID-19 are immune to the disease—and if so, how long the immunity will last.

With other coronavirus strains, experts say the antibodies that patients produce during infection give them immunity to the specific virus for months or even years, but researchers are still figuring out if and how that works with COVID-19.

To get reinfected again when you’re in that situation would be quite unusual unless your immune system was not functioning right. With many past viruses, immunity can last years – but the reinfection question shows the bigger picture surrounding COVID-19 remains cloudy.

The Recovery Time for the Coronavirus Disease

The median time from onset to clinical recovery for mild cases is approximately 2 weeks and is 3-6 weeks for patients with the severe or critical disease.

Recovery from COVID-19 means an absence of fever, with no use of fever-reducing medication, for three full days; improvement in other symptoms, such as coughing and shortness of breath; a period of seven full days since symptoms first appeared.

Two negative swab tests on consecutive days are considered as the all-clear – meaning self-isolation can end and a patient can theoretically begin having contact with others, including at work.

In practice, many governments and companies are still encouraging remote working even among healthy patients. Anyone living with someone with coronavirus is also advised to self-isolate for 14 days following the appearance of symptoms in the initial patient.