For International #LongCovidAwarenessDay and the fifth anniversary of the pandemic, I've written in @thewire_in about this life-altering illness, the perils of pandemic amnesia, and the 'escape velocity' required to course correct.

Some excerpts 🧵

m.thewire.in/article/health… 400 mn affected. 200+ symptoms. No approved cure. Widespread ignorance. Millions unable to work. Negligible medical, monetary, social support. Annual economic impact of $1 trillion. On the pandemic's 5th anniversary, this is the grim reality of #LongCovid

thewire.in/health/pressin…

For most people, getting Covid was a disruption that passed. But for the millions who developed #LongCovid, that disruption has been persistent – for years.

After 32 months of living with this complex chronic illness, here are some reflections...🧵 1. The belief that if you fall ill, the healthcare system will help you recover – doesn't hold true for people with complex or invisible illnesses.
Dismissal, mistreatment, and denial of health insurance are often the norm.

It's a year since I got Covid; I'm still not better.

I'm one of those ill with #LongCovid.
The ones who fall into the abyss between *recovered* and *dead*.
The ones who—though living—have lost their former lives.
The ones waiting for a cure.

Some reflections on the past year 🧵 💥#LongCovid is brutal. Didn't know such severe pain, fatigue, complications could exist in the human body. That too simultaneously, relentlessly, for so long.

Each day's a struggle, of recalibrating life; of facing myriad unfathomable symptoms, not knowing what may strike when.