From Iceland — People Treated For Long-Term COVID-19 Effects

People Treated For Long-Term COVID-19 Effects

Published August 11, 2020

Catherine Magnúsdóttir
Photo by
iira116 / Pixabay

About twenty people suffering from long-term effects after contracting COVID-19 have recieved treatment at the Reykjalundur rehabilitation centre.

According to a report by Fréttablaðið, the rehabilitation doctor and medical director of Reykjalundur, Stefán Yngvason stated that the affected group noted a severe lack of strength and stamina, some even needing help getting up and dressed.

The severity of the disease itself, whether the symptoms were mild or strong, doesn’t appear to matter much. The aftermath of contracting COVID-19 can manifest itself in a variety of ways, such as shortness of breath, stomach aches, balance and visual disturbances, tinnitus, hair loss and numbness in parts of the body.

Vísir reports that the Reykjalundur rehabilitation centre has received a considerable number of applications from people who have been affected by long-term effects and have not yet fully recovered. Twenty of these applications are said to be pending, while two are being currently processed.

Pétur Magnússon, CEO of Reykjalundur, is quoted as saying, “This is one of the things we’re learning about this virus and its behaviour. It’s obviously much more severe than a common flu. No one actually knows yet what this ‘big group’ is that folks are talking about. Of course there are also examples of people that have fallen ill and fully recovered.”

The rehabilitation treatment is said to be very individual-oriented with the base goal of getting people back into daily life.

“One thing we need to work on now is to analyse and to map out these ramifications. Landspítalinn has announced that they intend to study and map it out and we at Reykjalundur would be excited to be part of this as well and we can analyse things like lung function, heart function, and more possible connections,” Pétur says in an interview with Bylgjan.

For more information on the current COVID-19 outbreak visit covid.is

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