For many survivors of COVID-19, the suffering really hasn’t ended. Many struggle with long-term heart, kidney and lung damage; severe fatigue; and an inability to focus that they vaguely refer to as brain fog. For these so-called “long haulers,” COVID is the new pre-existing condition, without the guarantees of protection. They face the prospects of fights with their insurance companies to cover tens of thousands of dollars in bills not tied to the immediate illness. Some don’t see any hope of being able to work a normal day from an office again, a situation not envisioned in the patchwork of workplace rights laws and leave options. They have to work for a living, yet a successful work day is mustering enough energy to get by at home, and hoping their bosses don’t notice they can’t perform with the energy and clarity they used to. Reporters Lydia Wheeler and Paige Smith and video journalist Andrew Satter began dramatically chronicling what’s ahead for these long haulers before the residual impacts of COVID were widely known, exposing new realities that regulators and employers will be grappling with for years.
