But many people still can’t, and I know exactly how that feels.

But for the tens of thousands of people who contracted the coronavirus and have continued to have symptoms, the euphoria is short-lived.

In April 2020 I was diagnosed with Covid-19 and, for nearly 10 months, was subject to chest pain, fatigue, fever, night sweats and other maladies that continued long after the virus left my body.

But the truth is there is still so much we don’t know about Covid.

This month a study tracking the health insurance records of nearly two million people in the United States who contracted the coronavirus last year found that almost one-quarter of them — 23 percent — sought medical treatment for new conditions, including nerve and muscle pain, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and fatigue.

In February, the National Institutes of Health announced a $1.15 billion initiative to identify the causes of long Covid, as well as protocols to prevent and treat individuals whose symptoms persist.

Emails poured in from readers who had long Covid or knew relatives who suffered and didn’t know how to help.

Another reader said, “I sometimes feel so alone in it, and seeing your piece made me feel seen, understood and less alone.”.

“I hope that your article helps doctors know we are not ‘in our heads’ with anxiety alone,” one reader wrote.

What I find most troubling, though, is the helplessness that so many people still feel more than a year later as the country seems to be joyfully emerging from its coronavirus slumber.