SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – Health officials in Shreveport say long COVID is something people have been experiencing after recovering from COVID-19.

Symptoms like fevers, cold-like symptoms, and extreme fatigue can appear weeks after infection.

“We see a lot of weakness, headaches, persistent lost of smell and taste, and brain fog,” Dr. Nasim Motayar said with LSU Health Shreveport.

Motayar says doctors at the hospital anticipated COVID-19 was something that would not easily go away, which was why they decided to open up the first post-COVID clinic in north Louisiana.

“We take a holistic approach and very standardized approach to these patients to make sure we identify, address and monitor all parts of your body that may have been impacted by COVID-19.”

Dr. Motayar says they cared for close to 200 patients, if not more, at the clinic since it first opened in March 2020.

“What we have seen is, some people they can recover immediately, you know they could be sick for three days and fully recovered. There are other patients that have symptoms from weeks to months after their infection.”

Motayar says it is still unclear whether long COVID can lead to chronic health conditions as it is a novel virus.

“We’re hopeful that it won’t, but it’s too early. We’re going to have to wait and take it one step at a time and see where we go.”