The omicron variant of the novel coronavirus is still surging throughout the country, as people continue to face symptoms for days without end. But how long do omicron variant symptoms last?
The news: Dr. Lisa Maragakis recently wrote in an article for Johns Hopkins Medicine that COVID-19 lasts different lengths of time for different people, especially when it’s a mild case much like the omicron.
- “Those with a mild case of COVID-19 usually recover within one to two weeks,” Maragakis wrote.
- For severe cases, the recovery time “can take six weeks or more, and there may be lasting damage to the heart, kidneys, lungs and brain,” Maragakis wrote.
When symptoms develop: A recent study in Norway — by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and the department of microbiology at Oslo University Hospital in Oslo, Norway — looked into how fast the omicron variant can spread between people, using a recent Christmas party in Norway as an example.
- In all, the study found that there’s a median three-day window between exposure and feeling omicron variant symptoms.
What to do: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said those who are exposed to COVID-19 should “quarantine and stay away from others when you have been in close contact with someone who has COVID-19.”
- “Isolate when you are sick or when you have COVID-19, even if you don’t have symptoms,” the CDC said.
- Utah Gov. Spencer Cox recently said Utahns should avoid COVID-19 tests and stay home if they’re feeling symptoms as the state looks to tackle the massive surge of cases, the Deseret News’ Lisa Riley Roche reports.