As the 1-year mark of the COVID-19 pandemic approaches, individuals with enduring impairment have become a focus of increasing attention. The term “long COVID” has been used to refer to the estimated 10% of patients with persistent symptoms lasting several weeks or more following acute infection.
These COVID-19 “long haulers,” including cases ranging from mild to severe, have described a wide array of ongoing, unpredictable impairments in physical, cognitive, emotional, and occupational functioning.1 Many patients experience serious effects; for example, preliminary study results suggest that roughly two-thirds of patients incur organ damage. A group of clinicians in the United Kingdom with long COVID have reported new-onset diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and interstitial lung disease, among other effects and conditions, since the time of their infection.