Two new studies paint a comprehensive picture of current long COVID cases in the United States, and both suggest the condition limits daily activities for a significant proportion of those affected.

About 1 in 5 have daily limitations

In Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report researchers used data collected from the 2023 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), a large, population-based cross-sectional survey of US adults, to assess the prevalence of long COVID.

Survey participants were asked about their sex, age, previous COVID-19 illness, current long COVID, and whether they experienced significant activity limitation due to long COVID.

In total 6.4% of those surveyed said they were currently experiencing long COVID. Of those, 1 in 5, or 19.8%, said their symptoms caused significant limitations when carrying out daily activities.