When the illness is mild to moderate, people usually recover in two to three weeks. When you are infected with SARS-CoV-2 you should support your immune system by drinking plenty of water, getting enough sleep, avoiding exertion and stress and eating a balanced diet.

If the illness is severe it usually takes considerably longer to make a full recovery. This applies particularly to patients who are treated in hospital and receive artificial ventilation.

After recovering from COVID-19 you can take a PCR test. This will show whether the infection has cleared and the viral load is so low that you are no longer infectious.

But a negative test result does not automatically mean you are fully cured. It can happen that some symptoms of the illness, such as respiratory distress, exhaustion or impaired senses of taste and smell, persist for weeks or months after a negative test result.

When the symptoms are still present three months after a SARS-CoV-2 infection and they last longer than two months, the condition is known as long COVID or post-COVID syndrome.

Further information about the possible long-term effects of COVID-19 is available at infektionsschutz.de (the website of BZgA) and at the Health Ministry’s website gesund.bund.de.

Information about COVID-19 is available in different languages from the World Health Organization (WHO) and in English from Pfizer Inc.

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