long COVID

noun

variants or less commonly long COVID-19 or long-haul COVID or long-haul COVID-19

: a condition that is marked by the presence of symptoms (such as fatigue, cough, shortness of breath, headache, or brain fog) which persist for an extended period of time (such as weeks or months) following a person's initial recovery from COVID-19 infection : post-covid syndrome

The sickest COVID-19 patients are not the only ones to suffer from long COVID. Patients who had a milder initial case that didn't result in hospitalization can also have persistent symptoms.

—Stephanie LaVergne

Because of the growing number of long COVID patients, more hospitals are creating outpatient clinics with multiple specialists or expanding centers that initially focused only on patients leaving intensive care units.

—Meredith Cohn

Ceresa is one of a growing number of COVID-19 survivors with serious symptoms that last far beyond the acute infection with the virus. Some of these patients, often referred to as 'long-haulers' or people with long COVID-19 … are receiving treatment at … clinics like the one at Mount Sinai.

—Kevin Loria

… long-haul COVID-19 refers to the ongoing adverse health effects of coronavirus infection, which can last for weeks, and even months, after the initial phase of their illness has passed.

—Eve Glazier and Elizabeth Ko

Examples of long COVID in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

As a person with long COVID, getting out had been all but impossible for her for the last five years. —Michelle L. Quinn, Chicago Tribune, 14 June 2026

Because the best way to reduce the risk of long COVID is still to avoid getting COVID in the first place. —Emily Cegielski, Flow Space, 5 June 2026

But the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation lists HBOT as an emerging therapy for long COVID. —Clarissa Brincat, Scientific American, 1 June 2026

There is also a severe shortage of long COVID treatment clinics, with far too few to meet the demand for specialized treatment. —Bruce Y. Lee, Fortune, 24 May 2026

Her direction in precision health equity and long COVID recovery reveals a rare fluency in both community accountability and scientific rigor. —Daniel Fusch, USA Today, 15 May 2026

But to meet the needs of patients with diseases such as fibromyalgia, IBS, chronic fatigue syndrome, and long COVID, medicine will need to loosen its reliance on the magic-bullet model. —Jason Liebowitz, The Atlantic, 12 May 2026

That includes linking the vaccines to a syndrome that causes symptoms similar to long COVID. —Rob Stein, NPR, 16 Mar. 2026

Given the World Health Organization’s estimate that 6% of infections result in long COVID, just the first two years of the pandemic may have yielded up to 175,000 long COVID cases, a number that has only grown as the virus has continued to circulate. —Los Angeles Times, 14 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

2020, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

long COVID

noun

variants also long COVID-19

: a condition that is marked by the presence of symptoms which persist for an extended period of time following a person's initial recovery from COVID-19 infection

Medical Definition

long COVID

noun

variants also long COVID-19 or long-haul COVID or long-haul COVID-19

: a condition that is marked by the presence of symptoms (such as fatigue, cough, shortness of breath, headache, or brain fog) which persist for an extended period of time (such as weeks or months) following a person's initial recovery from COVID-19 infection : post-covid syndrome

… there's no clear way to diagnose long COVID and no standard treatment protocol. Some long haulers feel better after a couple of weeks following the initial infection, but then fall ill to old or even new disease-related symptoms that may affect multiple organs and systems weeks or months later. For others … their symptoms never fully abate after the initial infection; they just linger.

—Melba Newsome, Charlotte (North Carolina) Observer

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is set to release interim guidance for physicians treating patients with long COVID-19 …

—Congressional Quarterly News

… long-haul COVID-19 refers to the ongoing adverse health effects of coronavirus infection, which can last for weeks, and even months, after the initial phase of their illness has passed.

—Eve Glazier and Elizabeth Ko, Chicago Daily Herald

Long-haul COVID patients tend to exhibit the kinds of symptoms about which disability case reviewers have historically been skeptical, if not downright hostile. These include chronic fatigue, nonspecific body and nerve pain, headaches and persistent confusion known as "brain fog."

—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times