New data shows how many people in the Seattle and WA area could long have COVID

It’s one of the scariest things about testing positive for COVID-19: what if the symptoms last for months?

Most people with COVID start feeling better within a few days to a few weeks. But for some, a wide range of symptoms can last for more than a year month after the initial infection. Often referred to as long COVID, these post-COVID conditions can be debilitating.

And unfortunately that’s not all that rare.

New data from the US Census Bureau’s ongoing Household Pulse Survey shows nearly a third of Washington adults who have tested positive for COVID have had symptoms for three months or more. The survey was conducted June 1-13 and was completed by approximately 63,000 respondents nationwide.

According to the data, an estimated 2.1 million Washingtonians ages 18 and older have tested positive for the coronavirus or been diagnosed with COVID by a healthcare provider. Of these, about 31%, an estimated 662,000, had symptoms lasting several months or more.

Washington was among the states with a relatively low percentage of long-distance COVID drivers. Nationwide, 34% of survey participants said symptoms lasted at least three months. That means that of the more than 100 million Americans who have tested positive for COVID, 34.6 million are expected to have long-lasting symptoms.

The state with the lowest long-COVID rate was Hawaii at 23%. Many of the other lowest states were in the Northeast. Vermont had the second lowest rate at 26%. The state with the highest incidence of long-COVID was Alaska at 53%, followed by West Virginia at 49%.

The survey also includes data for the 15 largest US metropolitan areas. The Seattle Metro, which includes King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties, just makes it 15th.

Seattle’s long-distance COVID driver rate was among the lowest. An estimated 304,000 adults here reported long-lasting COVID symptoms, accounting for 26% of the nearly 1.2 million who have had a positive test or diagnosis. The subway with the lowest rate was San Francisco at just 21%. At the other end of the spectrum, 39% had long-term COVID symptoms in both Phoenix and Riverside-San Bernardino, California.

Post-COVID diseases are widespread and affect people differently. For some, the symptoms are constant, for others, they come and go. Severe tiredness or fatigue and fever are often reported as symptoms, and many say that any physical or mental exertion makes them worse. Other common symptoms include headaches, difficulty breathing, joint and muscle pain, brain fog, and loss of taste and smell.

Many people suffering from long-term COVID also struggle with anxiety and depression.

It is unclear what causes some people to develop long-term COVID. Also, there is no test for the condition, making it difficult to diagnose. It’s possible that some patients who report long-lasting COVID symptoms may actually have an unrelated medical condition.

Research has shown that women are significantly more likely to report post-COVID symptoms than men. The new survey data also shows a strong gender segregation. In Washington, 41% of women who tested positive said they had had symptoms for at least three months, compared to just 22% of men. There was a similar, if slightly smaller, gap at the national level.

It’s not clear why women are more susceptible to long COVID than men, but it could be related to differences in female and male immune systems and how they respond to infection.

More women also reported testing positive for COVID overall. Nationwide, 54% of those who received a positive test or diagnosis were women.

In Washington, middle-aged people (40-54 years) were more likely to report long-term COVID symptoms than younger or older people.

The survey data shows no significant difference in the incidence of long-duration COVID between whites and people of color. Nationally, however, Asians had the lowest rate of long COVID (25%), while Hispanics had the highest rate at 39%.

A discrepancy in the incidence of long-COVID lies in education. Both in Washington and nationally, people with a four-year college degree or higher had lower rates of long COVID than those without.

The Household Pulse Survey is an experimental product launched by the US Census Bureau in response to the pandemic. Unlike other census products that have a long lag time, the Household Pulse Survey provides data in near real-time. It aims to help inform officials and policymakers about the pandemic’s impact on communities across the country and provide data to support a post-pandemic recovery.