In for the Long Haul: Montana Ranks Near Top for Long COVID Cases

As much as we have learned to live with COVID, it is still doing everything it can to slow us down. It is hard to look back on what happened during the early parts of the pandemic. The overcrowded hospitals. The healthcare workers collapsing from exhaustion. The countless pictures of patients on ventilators. It was a tough time for all of us.

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Now, we have begun to accept that COVID is just something we will encounter from time to time. Much like a seasonal cold or the flu, we can expect that the dreaded "Rona" will force us to miss a couple of days of work. But, are we prepared to miss a couple of months of work?

According to Help Advisor

24.4% of Americans ages 18 and over who have received a positive COVID-19 test or diagnosis have experienced symptoms of COVID-19 that persisted for three months or longer.

31% of those affected by long COVID report that the symptoms have reduced their ability to carry out daily activities.

You read that right, 1 in 4 Americans have had long COVID. Meaning that the symptoms just never seem to go away. Everything from body aches to lack of smell or taste can last for weeks and even months.

In Montana, that number grows significantly. In fact, 1 in 3 Montanans have had a long battle with COVID since 2020.

According to Help Advisor

According to our analysis of November data from the U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey. 34% of adults in Oklahoma who had COVID-19 have experienced long COVID, the highest rate of any state population in the U.S.

Montana comes in at a close 2nd place to Oklahoma, with a whopping 33.8% of Montana adults experiencing long COVID.

Another statistic that was given in the study shows that even though 1 in 3 Montanans have struggled with long COVID, only 29% are willing to admit that it "reduced their ability to carry out daily activities."

Sounds like a typical Montanan. Too tough to have a virus stop us from hard work and making a living.