2022 was the year Long COVID went mainstream

Even if the mainstream continues to deny this.

I continue to make the dark and disturbing prediction that the worst of this pandemic is yet to come. That not only is it far from over, but that the suffering and overall impact is bound to get worse before it gets better.

A big reason for this dire prediction is Long COVID. The tendency for COVID to linger long past the initial infection, and impact the overall health of our organs and internal systems. Like a bad idea it boroughs deep into our bodies and subverts our attempts to be healthy and happy.

Keen observers have recognized Long COVID’s presence since the relatively early days of the pandemic. However 2022 was the year that the disease has become so pervasive, that more and more of us have experienced it.

In my own case, most of 2022 was spent dealing with it. Only now in December am I starting to feel better, as part of a slow and steady recovery. However in experiencing Long COVID, I not only felt first hand how debilitating it is, but I’m also primed to see it everywhere. In spite of the popular narrative that the pandemic is behind us.

Tragically the forces of disinformation have been successful throughout the pandemic. Well funded and relatively popular, its become incredibly difficult to understand why COVID is dangerous and worth taking serious.

Front and centre in this conspiracy culture is the obsession with lockdowns. Many people synonymize lockdowns with the pandemic, and hence if there are no lockdowns, there is no pandemic.

Personally I think lockdowns were and are a mistake. A poor policy in place of actual preparedness, and a distraction from necessary public health measures that can and would have an impact on the pandemic if they were adopted. Unfortunately our public health officials are a big part of the problem.

Not only did public health agencies campaign against masking in the first half of 2020, but they still regard masks as optional when they can play a significant role in keeping people safe and limiting the spread of this dangerous virus.

Sadly even the idea of wearing masks has been defeated in the battle place of ideas where profit and power combine to make people believe that getting infected with COVID may actually be a good thing.

I now have to admit that I’ve become a conspiracy theorist, as not only do I believe that COVID exists, and that it is a threat, but that Long COVID is something that more and more people are going to have to deal with.

We’re increasingly seeing research that suggests immunity to COVID is fleeting, especially given the rapid rate of evolution and the rise of new variants. And even worse, each reinfection wears down our immunity, and enables greater long term damage.

Unfortunately we continue to have an ablest approach to illness and disability, downplaying our symptoms and ignoring long term health issues. Long COVID doesn’t have to be debilitating to be present, or active, and there’s reason to believe that for many people it will get worse before it gets better, especially if they’re ignoring their symptoms.

This might be as basic as a lingering cough, or pesky respiratory issues, but it may be more severe in the form of reduced cardio capacity or increased issues with your immune system. Not to mention pervasive brain fog and reduced cognitive function.

I reject the idea that Long COVID is always severe, although those who really suffer from it, are becoming harder to ignore and deny.

If we take an inclusive approach to disability, and recognize that COVID is the largest mass disabling event in human history, it’s not difficult to recognize this current crisis. Not only are there a lot of people sick (and in denial) but they continue to put themselves in harm’s way. This will have a wide and far ranging impact.

Children’s hospitals are in crisis as our youngest and most vulnerable play the role of canaries in our collective coal mine. Our elders and already marginalized experienced this already, but somehow their deaths and suffering didn’t matter enough. Perhaps now that our kids are going through this healthcare hell we can take note and recognize they’re not alone in their suffering?

Unfortunately that’s not going to happen in so far as the forces of disinformation remain successful and dominant. Who will stand up for our health and sanity and help us recognize the threat we all collectively face?

One group who have are engineers! I recently had the chance to thank them at the Ontario Society for Professional Engineers annual conference.

One thing we can and should do is clean our air, and thankfully a lot of engineers have been incredibly active on this front. Designing a range of formal and informal systems that help organizations and families keep the air in their spaces clean.

If 2022 was the year that Long COVID went mainstream, then 2023 will be the year that Long COVID touches you or someone you know. Unfortunately it will get worse before it gets better, and while there are many brilliant minds working on understanding and treating it, they do not have the resources or attention they deserve.

This is partly why Long COVID continues to be perceived via the effects of the disease, rather than the disease itself. Heart attacks, chronic conditions, flare ups, or compounding complications from other health issues. We cannot and should not treat these issues in isolation, but recognize the interconnected nature of our health and our society.

For the first two years of the pandemic I wrote a daily newsletter on substack. While it was an enjoyable and cathartic process, I ended up deleting the entire site and archive to help put that part of my life behind me. I encouraged people to share and republish the pieces, and some continue to exist on the web, but I have no regrets in wanting to move past that difficult part of our collective lives.

In order to move forward, and get out of this pandemic, we will have to discard some of our stale and outdated notions. We will have to evolve and adapt to the challenges that face us. However wishful thinking and general denialism is not the path. Instead we need critical thinking and collective compassion. We need science combined with common sense, and a moral commitment to care for those who are most vulnerable, which these days is a rapidly growing cohort.

I’m encouraging my good friend Jan Lemke to write regularly here on Medium, and as part of that encouragement I’ve promised to keep pace with his efforts. Hopefully in working out our thoughts and sharing our words we can find a way through this raging dystopia we find ourselves in.