Large-Scale 'Long COVID' Study Planned

Korea will conduct a survey of 10,000 people to study the causes and symptoms of "long COVID" later this year to produce guidelines for treating sufferers more effectively. It is expected to be released next year.

In a meeting last Friday, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said, "Many people are suffering from long-term COVID symptoms, but there's been no full survey so far. We will conduct a survey to analyze the causes and symptoms in order to come up with treatment guidelines."

According to the World Health Organization, long COVID symptoms occur within three months after infection and persist for at least two months. There have been reports from around the world on more than 200 symptoms such as fatigue, shortness of breath, depression and anxiety, coughing, and cognitive decline or "brain fog."

The smaller study of 1,000 adults by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency has already been underway since March.

Ten to 30 percent of COVID survivors experienced aftereffects. The cumulative number of COVID patients reached 18.21 million or 35 percent of the population last Friday.

Last month, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention speculated that about 20 percent of American COVID-19 survivors developed lingering conditions.

Meanwhile, the daily tally of new coronavirus infections stood at 3,838 as of Monday morning, below 4,000 for the first time in about five months.