Long Covid in the media and social media 2022

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Article about Long Covid in English from Finland. It says treatment is uncoordinated and doctors disagree with each other over what it is.
YLE Over 21,000 cases of long Covid diagnosed in Finland

Quote:

There is, for example, a debate among doctors about whether it is an actual physical disease or more of a functional disorder.

According to Turku University professor of neurology Risto O. Roine, this may be the main reason why treatment in the public sector is lacking in many places.

"In Finland, there has been a widespread perception that long Covid is a psychological or functional disorder, and that may have influenced how it is approached. It's possibly been considered that there is no need to develop treatment," he said.

Roine pointed out that in the light of scientific research it is already known that the mechanisms of long Covid are biological, and viewing it as a functional disorder is not enough to explain the symptoms.
 
Hannah Davis on Twitter said:
To anyone living with #MECFS, #LongCovid, or other post-viral/infectious-onset diseases, or anyone who knows someone who is afflicted: please share your story in the comments. h/t to @cstroeckw/@Tempi_Stiftung for this prompt! 1/
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I tried writing something but I don't know how to put so much loss in tweet form. Maybe others will contribute things that will give a starting for more to do the same.
 
Long Covid is distorting the labor market — and that’s bad for the U.S. economy
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/08/lon...-the-labor-market-hurting-the-us-economy.html
Key Points:
  • Long Covid is affecting how Americans work. Some are unable to work at all due to symptoms of the chronic illness.
  • The overall labor impact of long Covid is tough to quantify. Estimates suggest hundreds of thousands to millions may be out of work, at a time when there are historic levels of job openings.
  • It is likely underpinning dynamics contributing to inflation. Meanwhile, lost earnings might translate to reduced household spending, or mean that patients must lean on public assistance programs funded by taxpayer dollars.
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Estimates of how many people are unable to work due to long Covid vary widely. One person they cited calculated 2-4 million (1.8% of the US's labor force, yikes), another just 500,000.

If the effect on the economy truly is this severe, politicians and scientists are much more likely to listen and take action.
 
Long Covid Doctors for Action on Twitter said:
We are excited to announce the launch of Long Covid Doctors for Action @LCD4A a UK doctor advocacy and campaign group who are committed to..
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It's sad to say that given what they decide to write about first, I don't trust them. They seem to make it about themselves first. There's this:
We are keen to follow, and be supported by, likeminded individuals and organisations who: > want to support NHS workers > want to raise awareness of #LongCovid & other post-acute covid illness.
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But, yeah I don't trust them on that point. Either they won't go there, or they didn't manage to learn much and either option is bad. I hope I'm wrong but I doubt they'll be good for us.
 
Ironically, the main pressure on the economy here would be in the form of rising wages, which is actually a major concern right now (even though wages are far lower than if they had followed inflation). Fewer workers mean employers have to raise wages and court employees in ways they never had before. So this actually benefits a lot of people. Just not rich people.

Kind of similar to how the black plague basically ended feudalism in Europe, ended up raising wages for those who survived. But the overall impact is still very small. It's on the order or 2-3% of the population, that's a blip.
 
rvallee said:


It's sad to say that given what they decide to write about first, I don't trust them. They seem to make it about themselves first. There's this:

But, yeah I don't trust them on that point. Either they won't go there, or they didn't manage to learn much and either option is bad. I hope I'm wrong but I doubt they'll be good for us.
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I don't understand your objection. There is clearly a problem that doctors and other health and care workers in the UK were not provided with appropriate PPE and were therefore in unsafe working conditions, and many have lost their jobs as a result of long covid. I think it makes sense for them to form an organisation to campaign for better support.
 
From Long Covid Doctors for Action's Twitter bio, "A campaign and advocacy group committed to campaigning for UK doctors with post-acute #Covid complications and better workplace protections".

rvallee said:
It's sad to say that given what they decide to write about first, I don't trust them. They seem to make it about themselves first.
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Seems a weird objection when their first posts are totally in line with their stated aim.

And the more they can do of these stated aims;

"To promote accurate information on the rights of UK doctors with #LongCovid in the workplace and other legal rights."

"To campaign for workplace protections against airborne SARS-CoV-2 spread."

"To promote accurate information and education on #LongCovid, and its effects on us and others as individuals."

the better for all.
 
Jaybee00 said:
https://thegauntlet.substack.com/p/why-is-the-business-press-outreporting

Why is the business press outreporting the left on COVID?

Discusses the New Republic article.
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Why is the business press outreporting the left on COVID?
Newly disabled victims of COVID pile high while the left spreads ableist nonsense

As it turns out, there is one corner of the media ecosystem that cares about an unprecedented, mass-disabling event: it’s business reporters.

A short sampler below:

WSJ: A Key to Long Covid Is Virus Lingering in the Body, Scientists Say

Bloomberg: UK Says Long Covid May Explain Much of Spike in Inactivity Rate

Financial Times: Long Covid: the invisible public health crisis fuelling labour shortages

CNBC; Long Covid may be ‘the next public health disaster’ — with a $3.7 trillion economic impact rivaling the Great Recession

FORTUNE: Companies haven’t addressed long COVID in the workplace—and they’re paying the price

CNBC: Long Covid’s financial devastation: $8,000 in credit card debt, ruined retirement plans

Washington Post, Business: Mass Long-Covid Disability Threatens the Economy

Sadly, while human lives are cast aside by right and left-wingers alike, the only part of the political spectrum concerned about disabling the public are employers realizing they’re losing human capital.

And from these headlines, it’s clear exactly why and in what context the business press cares about human beings: in the context of their ability to serve as workers for capitalism.
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That the business press is leading the way because they value their employees more than we value our neighbors is an embarrassment to the movement. Where are the voices of Long COVID patients in the New Republic? Why aren’t disabled journalists the ones covering this mass disabling event? Why is the left repeating misinformation that exculpates our politicians? Why is it defaulting to a eugenicist worldview that if you’re “not healthy” you should stay in your house or die? Why are we talking about strikes and sick days, but never even daring to mention the obvious cause of ongoing and widespread frontline worker shortages?
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There are broader questions to be asked of the movement here that go well beyond Long COVID. The sheer hatred being directed at disabled people right now is evident even in left-wing circles, where people have begun sneering in the manner of MAGA Republicans when masks are mentioned.

Familiar refrains like “masks don’t work,” “masks are bad for you,” “we can’t live like this forever,” and “it’s too hard,” are suddenly rampant among the same groups who called Republicans psychotic murderers for the same rhetoric. For the record, I will wear a mask as long as wearing a mask is necessary; not “until I’m tired.” Solidarity forever, not solidarity for-as-long-as-its-convenient.
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Awful article in the New Republic claiming there is a debate to be had whether ME and now Long covid should be treated using a psycho social approach. Claims there is no evidence exercise harms people with ME and scoffs that ‘would make the condition suspiciously unique in the annals of medical knowledge.’
Suggests LC and ME are FND. Interviews such luminaries as the dreadful Michael Sharp and Alan Carson. https://newrepublic.com/article/168965/might-long-covid-wrong.

The author’s husband is a well recognised doctor apparently - Adam Gaffney - who has been anti long covid. He posted the article with gushing praise and switched off after a short while the ability for people to reply. They remind me of a younger version of our darling power couple SW and CG here in the U.K.

Edited to add - sorry I missed there is a thread on this article.
 
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Trish said:
I don't understand your objection. There is clearly a problem that doctors and other health and care workers in the UK were not provided with appropriate PPE and were therefore in unsafe working conditions, and many have lost their jobs as a result of long covid. I think it makes sense for them to form an organisation to campaign for better support.
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I'm not objecting. I just assume this will be bad for us, based on messaging and precedent.

Hoping I'm wrong about it, but the pattern so far doesn't support that, unfortunately.
 
Not sure if it will be LC only, but new advocacy account with awareness videos, by a biomedical engineer.
Long Covid on the short on Twitter said:
Before starting with the theories behind #LongCovid, I have decided to do two videos, preparing the terrain for the quest that is about to come ‍♂️ Today I bring you “What is Long-Covid?”: a wrap-up and brief explanation of its most common symptoms https://t.co/756DZ2Obri
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Video:

 
A story about LC in children.

Lulu is 11. She has long COVID. Her mother just wants someone to help

Lulu has long COVID. For more than 12 months, she’s had digestive pain, problems concentrating and a tiredness she can’t sleep away. She slumbers 20 hours a day. “I don’t know why,” she says in a little voice.

The pandemic is over and we’ve all moved on. But life has not been fair to Lulu. She is stuck, with little help and no treatment.

“She’s completely isolated,” says Lynne. “This has taken away everything.

“We’re having to fight for her all the time. That has been exhausting. You just want people to open their arms and say ‘we can help’.
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As is usual, Australian doctors are downplaying the risk:

Children have so far been largely protected from the direct effects of COVID-19 — an unexpected silver lining most likely due to the unique arrangement of the developing immune system.

This protection seems to extend to long COVID. “It’s very uncommon and it’s not something that should concern most people,” says Associate Professor Philip Britton, a University of Sydney paediatric physician who works with children who have the disease.

Studies using different methods come to different conclusions but after looking at all the data, Britton estimates the true prevalence among children at less than 1 per cent.

But the data and science is clear: kids do get long COVID, and for some it can upend life. “It is very clear they are not at zero risk,” says the University of Tasmania’s Professor Martin Hensher, who has published modelling of long COVID prevalence in Australia.
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“I have colleagues who say ‘this does not really exist, it’s all in people’s heads’,” says Britton. “The problem with that is, for the small number of children and families genuinely affected by this, they often experience not being heard, difficulty accessing care, and they find it hard to form trusted clinical relationships with doctors.”
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The RCH referred Lulu to a chronic fatigue syndrome clinic but it offers only exercise therapy, unsuitable for patients who crash after working out.
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Long COVID clinics ‘inundated’ with patients, and doctors can’t cope

Australia’s long COVID clinics are so under-resourced patients are waiting almost a year for treatment, as the Victorian government warns it will struggle to care for the growing number of patients without extra federal funding.

In a submission to a federal inquiry, the Victorian government revealed the first official modelling of long COVID, and said the disease affected 218,000 Victorians, of whom 41,000 had a severe form.
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Given the ignorant and problematic comments made by these doctors to the Senate Inquiry into LC, patients are probably lucky that they can't access these LC Clinics:

“We have been inundated – because of limited resources,” said Professor Steven Faux, co-lead of the long COVID clinic at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney. “We’ve only got capacity to open one day a week. We’ve not got the staff, we can’t get them. I can’t find physios, I can’t find psychologists.”

St Vincent’s has an 11-month waitlist, as does the clinic at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. The Age and the Herald have learnt the Austin Hospital in Heidelberg is closing its clinic later this year after it ran out of funding.

“There are very limited resources and large demand,” said Associate Professor Lou Irving, head of the Royal Melbourne Hospital’s long COVID clinic. “[The resources available] is less support than they need.”
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