by Daniel Brouse
May 27, 2025
Five Years Later, COVID’s Chronic Shadow Persists
Five years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, millions of Americans continue to battle lingering and often debilitating symptoms that have upended their lives. Among the most distressing and widespread of these are cognitive impairments — memory loss, mental fatigue, and difficulty concentrating — symptoms that strike people of all ages and backgrounds.
These neurological effects are not just inconvenient; they’re life-altering. In many cases, they mimic early signs of dementia or other neurodegenerative conditions. For some, they have ended careers and reshaped identities.
When the Brain Fog Never Lifts
Ken Todd, a 56-year-old former Showtime executive living in New York City, is one of these patients. Once a high-performing professional, Todd was forced to stop working in 2023 after struggling with persistent symptoms. “When I tried to go back and apply for jobs, I just didn’t have the stamina — mentally or physically,” he says. “It just exacerbated my symptoms.” Eventually, he was diagnosed with a form of mild cognitive impairment, a condition previously rare in middle-aged adults with no history of neurological disease.
Todd’s story is increasingly common. COVID-19, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, has proven to be more than an acute respiratory illness. Its lasting damage now stands as a major public health crisis — one that may endure for decades.
A Disease That Doesn’t Let Go
Recent studies show that the virus often triggers a cascade of chronic complications that significantly reduce both quality of life and life expectancy. One shocking estimate suggests that up to 10% of the excess deaths since the pandemic’s onset can be directly attributed to the virus itself. But the remaining 90% are linked to what experts are calling COVID’s “silent killers”: the conditions it leaves behind.
Patients are reporting not only cognitive issues but also cardiovascular problems, chronic fatigue, respiratory decline, and new-onset diabetes and autoimmune disorders. “There is something inside the body going wrong with the disease,” says Dr. Rob Wüst, a researcher studying the long-term effects of COVID on muscle tissue and metabolism. The damage, he says, often continues even after the virus has cleared from the body.
Long-COVID: From Rare Concern to Routine Diagnosis
What was once considered a rare or controversial diagnosis is now a regular part of medical practice. Long-COVID, also known as post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC), refers to the collection of symptoms that persist for weeks or months — sometimes years — after the initial illness. And according to emerging data, the chances of experiencing some form of long-term effect after infection may be as high as 99%.
While the severity and duration of symptoms vary, the risk of long-term complications rises with reinfection. This makes prevention and public health measures still vitally important, even as public attention has shifted elsewhere.
A Public Health Reckoning Still to Come
COVID-19 has rewritten the rules of public health and chronic disease. As the world attempts to move on, the growing population of long-COVID patients represents a slow-burning crisis. These individuals require sustained medical support, workplace accommodations, and mental health care — needs that far outlast the acute phase of the pandemic.
And for those like Ken Todd, the consequences are deeply personal. “You lose your sense of self,” he says. “It’s like your mind used to be a sharp tool — and now it’s rusting.”
The pandemic may no longer dominate headlines, but for millions of Americans, its effects are anything but over. The long shadow of COVID-19 continues to fall over daily life — reshaping our understanding of what it means to survive a virus that never truly leaves.