Long COVID: a public health expert’s campaign to understand the disease.

[2greys]

On March 20 2020, while the UK was anticipating its first national lockdown to control the coronavirus pandemic, I started feeling unwell with what felt like a COVID-19 infection.

Over the next couple of days, I developed a collection of symptoms: fever, chills, cough, chest heaviness, exhaustion, diarrhoea, abdominal pain and bad muscle aches, particularly in my legs. Since the UK government had stopped lab testing for those who were not hospitalised for COVID-19 on March 12, the vast majority of community infections in March remained unconfirmed by testing, including mine. The instruction then was that if you were not ill enough to go to hospital, you should stay at home and wait to get better.

While I isolated at home with my three children, I was optimistic that the infection would pass, like other flu-like illnesses I’d had in the past, because I had no underlying risk factors for severe COVID-19. But I became nervous with every new day that passed while I was not recovering.

theconversation.com/long-co...

[Walkwalkwalk]

Thank you for this. These conversations are essential in discussions about long term care for’ long-haulers’ but they will also open up consideration of societal/ government responsibilities in care for many chronic illnesses.