Alyssa Milano still has "a lot of the symptoms" of COVID-19, six months after she tested positive for antibodies.
The ‘Charmed’ star was sick for six weeks in March and April after she contracted the virus, but six months after she tested negative for the illness and positive for antibodies – meaning her body has gotten over the virus and is now equipped to fight it off – she says she’s still not back to full health.
She explained: "It comes in stages and it affects different parts of the body at different times. Like, first it was my stomach and then I started to feel better a little bit. And then it was my chest. And then I started to feel better a little bit.
"And you know, just the roller coaster, and now I’m six months out and, you know, I’m what they call a long hauler, I still have a lot of the symptoms. I have heart palpitations and shortness of breath and my hair is falling out.
"The worst part of all of it is that I have horrible ringing in my ears that is really, really annoying to say the least."
Alyssa, 47, insists she’s "doing okay" despite her continued symptoms, and says she feels "very grateful" to still be alive.
She added: "But I’m doing OK. I’m very, very grateful and thankful that I’m here. I would also add that I have a lot of friends that were sick and none of them have completely recovered, so I think that’s part of the story that they’re not really talking about enough, is, you know, the symptoms after the acute illness, and I don’t know if I’ll ever be completely one hundred percent back to normal. I hope so. I hope that with time, you know, it passes. But you just don’t know."
And the actress also knows she’s fortunate to have access to good healthcare, as many other coronavirus sufferers, especially in the US, are missing out on vital care.
She told ‘Entertainment Tonight’: "I want people to just be reminded that there are people that are suffering that don’t have healthcare insurance, that don’t know how to treat, that are suffering by themselves, that maybe have to go to work because they live paycheque to paycheque and they are spreading this because they don’t have protections to not spread it. There’s a lot that has to be thought of when we’re considering what this horrible illness is doing to our nation."