The Covid long haul: why are some patients not getting better?
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When the Guardian’s Luke Harding began suffering symptoms of Covid-19 he assumed he would be laid low for a couple of weeks. Five months later he is still unwell, and he has found hundreds of people like him
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Presented by
Mythili Rao with
Luke Harding; produced by
Sam Colbert and
Axel Kacoutié; executive producers
Nicole Jackson and
Phil Maynard
Mon 10 Aug 2020 02.00 BST Last modified on Mon 10 Aug 2020 07.32 BST
The Guardian’s senior international correspondent,
Luke Harding, was struck down with symptoms in March that were being increasingly reported throughout the country. He had a shortness of breath and chest pains, and although he was unable to get a test he was certain it was Covid-19. Five months later, he tells
Mythili Rao, he is still suffering.
It’s a growing issue. Hundreds of people are forming online communities to discuss myriad long-term symptoms, from headaches and digestion issues to nerve damage and searing lung pain.
Paul Garner, a professor from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine describes his own long-haul Covid-19 experience and how a blog post for the British Medical Journal led dozens of people to approach him. One of them was
Iulia Hammond, a junior doctor still not back at work five months after first developing Covid-19 symptoms.