Family caregivers of people with long COVID bear an extra burden

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With unpredictable symptoms that can wax and wane mysteriously, long COVID also requires exceptionally good record-keeping, in order to provide doctors with new clues. But because the disease often causes fatigue and brain fog, some patients can't keep track for themselves. They rely on friends or family for help.

"The family caregiver becomes the care manager, advocating and managing the system," the late John Schall, former CEO of the Caregiver Action Network, an education and advocacy nonprofit, told us last year. "And you're doing it by guesswork. Nobody tells you what to look for."

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...People with COVID-19 should isolate for five days, the CDC said. And, if they are asymptomatic or their symptoms are resolving (without fever for 24 hours), they should follow that by five days of wearing a mask when around others to minimize the risk of infecting people they encounter.

The change is motivated by science demonstrating that the majority of COVID transmission occurs early in the course of illness — generally in the one to two days prior to onset of symptoms, and then two to three days after, according to CDC guidance.

Additionally, the CDC also recently updated the recommended quarantine period for anyone who knows they were exposed to COVID-19.

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Pregnant women and new mothers died in sharply increasing numbers during the pandemic, and not just because of a rise in medical complications that may accompany pregnancy and childbirth. An even greater toll was exacted by other causes, like drug overdoses, homicides and car accidents, according to a study published on Friday.

“It is really heartbreaking to see,” said Jeffrey T. Howard, an associate professor of public health at the University of Texas at San Antonio and lead author of the paper, which was published in JAMA Network Open.