How Emma Samms Copes with Long COVID as She Returns to General Hospital : 'I Take My Days Off Lying in Bed'
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Emma Samms is returning to the ABC soap General Hospital, but before she arrived on set to film last month she was honest with producers about her limitations.
"I told them if I stand still for too long, I might fall over. I might lose my voice if I talk too much. I sometimes sound gaspy," she tells PEOPLE in this week's issue. "I said, 'Basically, think senior citizen and not a fit one. Just think in those terms when you are writing for me.' "
Since coming down with COVID in March 2020, Samms, 62, has faced daily battles with fatigue, breathlessness, blood pressure changes and, after a second bout with the virus in June, tinnitus (chronic ear ringing).
"I'm so cautious now. If I look at a distance to walk, I think, 'How unwell will I feel if I walk?' I'm always clocking, 'Where's the nearest hospital?' My inclination is to lie still in a quiet, dark room. That's the only safe place health-wise for me," she says. "And I am so not alone."
According to data from the census bureau, more than 16 million people in the U.S. are currently suffering ongoing symptoms known as Long COVID, most of whom are no longer able to work full-time as a result of the disease.
"It's an ongoing mass disabling event, and it's been frightening to witness," says Samms. "For me, it's been a battle of the wills to accomplish anything."
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It's taken two years for Samms to get well enough to make her comeback as Holly Sutton, the General Hospital character she first played in the '80s before she went on to star in nighttime soaps Dynasty and The Colbys.
In September she returned to L.A. for the first time since the pandemic for a month-long shoot. "I had massive trepidation," says Samms, whose GH episodes will begin airing Oct. 20. (Her original return date of Oct. 19 was rescheduled due to congressional hearings.) "But I feel really lucky that people are willing to accommodate me in order for me to work. I feel desperately sorry for people who don't have bosses who are as sympathetic."
GH executive producer Frank Valentini gave Samms his own parking spot near the studio to limit extra walking, and she doesn't film every day. In front of the cameras, Valentini says, "you would never know there's anything wrong with her. She puts every ounce of energy into it."
But underneath, Samms struggles after she exerts herself. "The truth is, if I've made an effort and put on makeup one day, that doesn't mean I'm feeling better. I might look better, but it means I'll feel awful tomorrow," she says.
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Christine Bartolucci/ABC
Samms will return home after filming to north of London, where she lives with her husband, former BBC presenter Simon McCoy, 61.
He has been with her in Los Angeles during filming. "Luckily we were a couple before I became unwell," she says. "I feel I've let him down, because this wasn't what he was bargaining on, but he's never made me feel he got a bad deal." Back home she's planning a long rest: "I've got nothing scheduled the month I get back, and I shall just recuperate."
Experts are still trying to understand what causes Long COVID, and Samms has advocated for more research — she even had a contributor's credit on a scientific study in the U.K. earlier this year.
The possibility that her symptoms could be permanent "is depressing," she says. "But I still am so blessed. I love where I live, I have a fantastic husband, my kids are grown and lovely. Even with Long COVID, life is very good."
For more on Emma Samms, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribe here.
