Long Covid Awareness Day 2026

[ahimsa]

I thought it would be good to have a thread for this year's Long Covid Awareness Day - March 15, 2026.

Please post links for news coverage, advocacy, blog posts, etc.

 

[ahimsa]

Post from Solve ME for Long Covid Awareness Day:

Recognizing Long Covid Awareness Day: Resources for You - Solve ME/CFS Initiative

To mark Long Covid Awareness Day, Solve has joined forces with #MEAction, Bateman Horne Center, and the Open Medicine Foundation as #UnitedForME and gathered a set of resources designed to inform and empower patients, caregivers, and supporters.

solvecfs.org

Every year on March 15, our community pauses to recognize Long Covid Awareness Day—a day to acknowledge the millions of people whose lives have been changed by long-term illness following infection, and to reaffirm our commitment to research, advocacy, and support.

Long Covid has affected people of all ages and backgrounds. For many, it means navigating persistent symptoms that disrupt work, family life, and everyday routines. For others, it has been the start of a much longer journey with infection-associated chronic conditions, including illnesses like ME/CFS and related disorders. Behind every statistic is a real person—and often an entire family—working to adapt to a new and uncertain reality.

Includes this list of resources (Google doc):

 

[ahimsa]

Post from Open Medicine Foundation:

https://www.omf.ngo/2026-long-covid-awareness-day/

 

[ahimsa]

News article from the Austin American-Statesman:

Long COVID still affecting thousands in Austin, doctors say

On Long COVID Awareness Day, doctors and patients say long COVID continues to affect thousands in Austin years after the pandemic shutdowns. Here’s what we know.

www.statesman.com

For many, the pandemic feels like it's over, but for some people "the pandemic never ended. COVID never went away," said Katie Drackert, co-founder of Clear the Air ATX, a group committed to raising awareness about long COVID and providing public spaces and residences with HEPA filters to mitigate the spread of viruses in the air.

One in 19 people in the country is living with long COVID — a disease with more than 200 symptoms that can develop after an infection and currently has no known treatment or diagnostic test.

On Thursday, Austin City Council declared March 15 Long COVID Awareness Day. The action serves as a reminder that an estimated 42,000 people in Austin have long COVID, while also encouraging funding of long COVID treatment programs and support groups and promoting COVID-19 precautions.

"The pandemic is not over," said Dr. Desmar Walkes, public health authority for Austin and Travis County. "There are still people day after day contracting COVID-19."

 

[ahimsa]

Article from CBC:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/she-just-never-recovered-some-covid-19-patients-are-still-dealing-with-symptoms-long-after-infection-9.7129619

 

[Beth]

Blog post from an American patient, https://www.aquietstorm.me/blog/long-covid-in-a-post-pandemic-world
They also have an open call for an online exhibition on deaths in M.E. https://www.aquietstorm.me/open-call-me-kills
Thought I’d add it on the off chance there are any artists here or someone would know someone interested

 

[ahimsa]

Blog post from "The Disabled Ginger"

Long Covid Awareness Day 2026

It's 2026 and the Covid pandemic rages on despite many pretending it no longer exists. Today is a day to remind people of the disabling nature of the virus and how they can protect themselves.

www.disabledginger.com

 

[Cinders66]

Long Covid – the fight for justice​

Dr Murray-Cavanagh added: ‘We cannot – we will not – allow Long Covid to become the next ME or chronic fatigue syndrome: poorly understood and stigmatised. This is an occupational disease. The evidence is there. We must make the call for change. If the BMA won’t stand up for doctors disabled by their work who will? It’s not just the right thing to do, it's the very least we can do for our colleagues.’

Long Covid – the fight for justice

Long Covid – the fight for justice

The first scandal was that doctors were exposed to COVID due to failings in government PPE provision. The second was that those with Long Covid have been denied the support they need, causing huge financial and emotional distress. Recognition of the condition as an industrial disease would be a...

thedoctor.bma.org.uk

 

[ahimsa]

Long Covid Advocacy posted a short video (30 seconds) on Bluesky:

Main text of post (in case Bluesky embedding has problems)

️The power of medical education!

30% of clinicians thought Long Covid wasn't real.
After 90 mins of Putrino Lab (@putrinolab.bsky.social) class
0% thought it wasn't real!

 

[rvallee]

Dr Murray-Cavanagh added: ‘We cannot – we will not – allow Long Covid to become the next ME or chronic fatigue syndrome: poorly understood and stigmatised. This is an occupational disease. The evidence is there. We must make the call for change. If the BMA won’t stand up for doctors disabled by their work who will? It’s not just the right thing to do, it's the very least we can do for our colleagues.’

Well this is an all-caps ironic but, uh, too late for that. It's here, it's done, because it's a lot of the same thing. Coming from the BMA, this is frankly ridiculous. They won't do a damn thing here, who the hell are they even kidding?

I still find the idea of making this a health care occupational illness appalling. So much wrong here. It's still infecting people. The entire population has had it many times. Not a damn competent thing is still being done and the medical profession is almost entirely to blame for this.