2% is actually a very large percent, considering how contagious the virus is. Many people like to say that all respiratory illnesses produce similar issues, but no other so widespread virus has such high chronic illness remains.
I had covid middle of March, and am maybe 50% energy most days, and have to do massive breaths every so often. After 7 months of “recovery”?! I don’t know if I’m even getting better... yeah extreme fatigue, brain fog, eating can be exhausting...
OTOH, A lot of people came out of it far worse...
But it seems to be rare enough that it is hard to establish a causal link / study it properly.
I wonder if there could be some common cause? Perhaps also common to CFS?
I'm not sure how common symptomatic mono is, but I suspect it (along with some things like maybe pneumonia and bronchitis?) is a good reference point.
How was your bout with mono? I recall having tonsils so swollen I was afraid I'd have to go to the hospital for a few days, and then being perpetually exhausted for ~6-8 weeks.