Fears of more long COVID, a ‘mass disabling event’ as variants rip through California
LOS ANGELES — As highly infectious omicron subvariants continue to fuel a new coronavirus wave, there is growing concern about long COVID, in which symptoms or increased risk of illness can persist for months or even years.
Efforts to understand the scale of long COVID’s effects have taken on additional urgency given the number of people who have come down with the virus since omicron was first detected in California shortly after Thanksgiving. Some experts think this latest surge may exceed the record-high case counts seen over the fall and winter, leaving more people at risk of developing the condition.
“Because of the sheer volume of people that were infected, we can expect to see more long COVID cases,” said Dr. Anne Foster, vice president and chief clinical strategy officer for the University of California Health system.
For these long-haul sufferers, maladies such as a cough, chest pain, shortness of breath, heart palpitations and brain fog have marred their lives and sometimes made it impossible to work. The most enduring cases can trace their initial coronavirus infection as far back as 2020, from
