1.4M Canadians have experienced prolonged COVID-19 symptoms: StatCan

Around 1.4 million Canadian adults who know or suspect they’ve had COVID-19 say they experienced symptoms months after getting sick, according to new data released Monday by Statistics Canada.

The data, released in partnership with the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), is the first national look at Canadians who experienced long-term symptoms after a positive COVID-19 test or suspected infection. It was gathered through the second cycle of StatCan’s Canadian COVID-19 Antibody and Health Survey.

As of the end of May 2022, almost one-third of Canadians aged 18 years and older tested positive for COVID-19 and another 8.3 per cent suspected they had the virus, according to the survey results.

Of those who know or believe they were infected, 14.8 per cent — or 1.4 million Canadians — say they had symptoms at least three months after their initial infection.

Fatigue was the most common symptom, experienced by almost three-quarters of those with long-term symptoms, followed by cough and shortness of breath at 39 per cent and brain fog at 33 per cent.

More women reported prolonged COVID-19 symptoms than men, but there were no significant differences among different age groups.

The data also shows people who experienced more severe symptoms from their initial COVID-19 illness were more likely to experience longer-term symptoms. For example, among those who rated their initial illness as moderate, 15 per cent say they had longer-term symptoms, while 6.3 per cent who reported a mild case of COVID-19 reported longer-term symptoms.

In addition, nearly one in three Canadians who experienced symptoms for at least three months after getting COVID-19 say they had recovered from their initial illness before symptoms returned.

More men than women — 37 per cent compared to 29 per cent — said their COVID-19 symptoms resolved and later returned, but this phenomenon also varied by age group and was lowest among those aged 65 and older.

Meanwhile, after December 2021 when Omicron became the dominant strain of the virus infecting Canadians, the number of people who experienced prolonged symptoms dropped by more than half.

Statistics Canada does not refer to these cases as “long COVID”. However, the World Health Organization (WHO) defines post-COVID-19 condition as any illness that occurs three months after the onset of symptoms that last for at least two months or longer and cannot be explained by any other diagnosis, including “fatigue, shortness of breath, cognitive dysfunction but also others and generally have an impact on everyday functioning.”

Overall, the majority of Canadians rated their symptoms as mild to moderate. This was the case for nearly four in five Canadians, while 16.7 per cent rated their symptoms as severe, defined as having a significant impact on their daily life.

Statistics Canada warns some of these results — gathered between January 2020 and May 2022 — could be underestimated, as some people who were infected with COVID-19 may not have been aware they had contracted the virus or received a false negative test result.