Share on Twitter Several health experts are warning the long-term impacts of COVID-19 could further burden the country's health system, and leave many Australians with possibly debilitating side effects. As parts of the world continue to grapple with outbreaks of the highly contagious Delta variant, harder-hit countries such as the UK and the US are responding to the long-term effects of the virus as more evidence emerges. In February last year, the World Health Organization said that people with mild cases of COVID-19 should usually recover within two weeks. But a WHO brief published one year later said some ten per cent of people still experience persistent ill health 12 weeks after having their initial infection, in what is being referred to as 'long COVID' or post-COVID conditions.