A new feature of Covid is that some patients never fully recover and develop a long term condition similar to ME. This hasn't been taken seriously by some doctors but is now gaining attention. The clinician on the news was saying that Covid has mistakenly been labelled a respiratory condition, whereas it's a disease of the blood vessels and can affect and lead to long term damage of any organ :

“Profound fatigue” was a common symptom in most people with long covid, she said, but added that a wide range of other symptoms included cough, breathlessness, muscle and body aches, and chest heaviness or pressure, but also skin rashes, palpitations, fever, headache, diarrhoea, and pins and needles. “A very common feature is the relapsing, remitting nature of the illness, where you feel as though you’ve recovered, then it hits you back,” she said"

https://www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m3489

The Royal College of GPs is calling for a national network of "post-Covid" clinics to help such people.

But less than 12% of 86 NHS care commissioning groups asked by the BBC said they were running such services.

NHS England said it was "rapidly expanding new and strengthened rehab centres".

Tim Spector, professor of genetic epidemiology at King's College London and leader of the Covid Symptom Study app, said around 300,000 people in the UK have reported symptoms lasting for more than a month - so called "long Covid".

He added that data from the app showed around 60,000 people have been ill for more than three months

Jade Townsend, 22, was active and sociable before spending just one night in hospital after contracting Covid-19. But she said she can no longer work and suffers chronic fatigue, fevers, nausea and a fluctuating fast heart rate.

Five weeks after catching the illness in mid-March, Ms Townsend, from Witney in Oxfordshire, was taken to hospital with a high fever and difficulties breathing. Five months later, she has had to give up her job at a nursery and said she "can't imagine" resuming her social life. "I'm now nearly needing more hours of sleep than time awake," said Ms Townsend."It worries me at 22 I'll be stuck with some of these symptoms and I won't ever be able to get back to my normal self."

Researchers studying long-term effects of the virus said they hoped to prevent a "cycle of illness where the symptoms continue". Many coronavirus patients have reported debilitating symptoms continuing months after falling ill, which can include breathlessness, chronic fatigue and brain fog.

Dr Rachael Evans, from the University of Leicester, has worked on a UK-wide investigation into the long-term effects of Covid-19 for patients admitted to hospital. Dr Evans's study aims to recruit 10,000 people to assess their physical function and mental health, also taking samples to analyse their genes and immune system.

A new feature of Covid is that some patients never fully recover and develop a long term condition similar to ME. This hasn't been taken seriously by some doctors but is now gaining attention. The clinician on the news was saying that Covid has mistakenly been labelled a respiratory condition, whereas it's a disease of the blood vessels and can affect and lead to long term damage of any organ :

"“Profound fatigue” was a common symptom in most people with long covid, she said, but added that a wide range of other symptoms included cough, breathlessness, muscle and body aches, and chest heaviness or pressure, but also skin rashes, palpitations, fever, headache, diarrhoea, and pins and needles. “A very common feature is the relapsing, remitting nature of the illness, where you feel as though you’ve recovered, then it hits you back,” she said"

https://www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m3489

One of the children who goes to school with my grandchildren had C19 in March along with the rest of his family .

He is 7 years old and has asthma, he has not recovered very well and can only manage to walk around for a couple of hours a day on good days.

I think some people will take a long time to become fully fit again.