U.S. government ignores "greatest mass-disabling event in human history:" Long COVID experts

2022-September-22 09:35 By: Xinhua

A child is carried into a COVID-19 vaccination site in Times Square, New York, the United States, on June 22, 2022. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua)

By the CDC's own estimate from June, one in five U.S. adults with a known prior case of COVID-19 had symptoms of Long COVID.

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. government is ignoring "the greatest mass-disabling event in human history," Time magazine reported, quoting Long COVID experts and advocates.

In a July Axios-Ipsos poll, 17 percent of people said their biggest fear related to COVID-19 is the possibility of getting Long COVID, a potentially disabling condition in which symptoms linger or emerge well after an acute infection, according to the report published by Time magazine on Monday.

"But at a time when the majority of U.S. adults think there's little risk in returning to normal, mask wearers, test takers, and social distancers walk a lonely road," said the report.

Throughout 2022, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has rolled back many of its recommended COVID-19 precautions.

CDC guidance no longer recommends social distancing, mask-wearing, or screening tests for most people who do not have symptoms, and unvaccinated people do not need to quarantine if they are exposed to the virus, according to the report.

"But even with high levels of population immunity, Long COVID cases continue to pile up. By the CDC's own estimate from June, one in five U.S. adults with a known prior case of COVID-19 had symptoms of Long COVID," said the report.

Health officials are not doing enough to prevent transmission of the virus and help people understand its risks, said Kristin Urquiza, who founded the advocacy group Marked By COVID after her father died from the virus in 2020.

"Leaders have thrown their hands up in the air and basically said, 'You do you,'" she was quoted as saying.

Editor: Zhang Zhou
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