Long COVID Continues For Many Seniors

As the world is starting it’s trek back towards normalcy after a long three years of COVID-19 related issues, there are many people who are still fighting the effects of COVID-19 on their personal health. In fact, a recent survey conducted by AARP found that many older adults were experiencing symptoms well past the day that they tested positive for the virus. This phenomenon is known as long COVID and it is much more prevalent in the senior population.

Since the start of the pandemic more than 1 million people in the United States alone have died of the virus and seniors were hit particularly hard with 93 percent of the people who have died during the pandemic being over the age of 50 years old. The virus still continues to be affecting seniors in a very real way and leaving many with symptoms long after the date that they are considered not contagious.

If you’re the caregiver for someone who is aging in place and is battling the effects of long COVID there are some things you can do to make your loved one more comfortable and also allow them to start to recover.

1.) Make sure your loved one has healthy and balanced meals to eat regularly. Helping someone get the proper nutrition is one of the best things you can do for them as they try to recover from the nagging effects of having tested positive for COVID.

2.) Encourage your loved one to continue to sleep regularly. For some, the early symptoms of COVID include fatigue and that fatigue may carry over long-term. While it may be tempting for your loved one to start to get back to their daily routine when they are feeling better, if they are experiencing long COVID symptoms you should encourage them to continue to get plenty of rest, even giving them permission to take a nap when needed throughout the day.

3.) If your loved one is experiencing lingering respiratory issues it can be very helpful to create a peaceful environment for them to work on their breathing and take deep breaths (if they can) to get their body into a situation where it is getting the oxygen it needs. Yoga is great for this and even if your loved one isn’t particularly mobile, she/he can do it from a seated position.

Long COVID can, in some cases, just be a nagging, lingering issue that will eventually go away on it’s own, but in other situations it can cause your loved one who is aging in place a lot of pain and suffering as they try to battle back from this difficult virus. If you are the primary caregiver there are things you can do to help, but if the situation worsens you should certainly seek medical attention.