Peter Piot: “Many people think COVID-19 kills 1% of patients, and the rest get away with some flulike symptoms. But the story gets more complicated. Many people will be left with chronic kidney and heart problems. Even their neural system is disrupted...” https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/05/finally-virus-got-me-scientist-who-fought-ebola-and-hiv-reflects-facing-death-covid-19

“... There will be hundreds of thousands of people worldwide, possibly more, who will need treatments such as renal dialysis for the rest of their lives. The more we learn about the coronavirus, the more questions arise...”

“... We are learning while we are sailing. That’s why I get so annoyed by the many commentators on the sidelines who, without much insight, criticize the scientists and policymakers trying hard to get the epidemic under control. That’s very unfair.”

For the vast majority of people, infection causes mild illness only. But I worry that we focus on IFR as the only metric of severity while ignoring long-term morbidity (not yet well characterized). A long stay in the ICU is no joke. How does this factor into our calculus?

For those asking about long-term outcomes, obviously we don’t know for a new disease. But this article reviews the available evidence. https://www.vox.com/2020/5/8/21251899/coronavirus-long-term-effects-symptoms