While the public health emergency from the pandemic has long ended, there are still thousands of people in Southern California who are suffering from long COVID.
Elle Seibert told KNX News’ Karen Adams that long COVID has been debilitating, and that muscle joint pain, brain fog, and irregular heartbeats are just some of the symptoms she faces.
It’s also made her unable to hold down a full-time job.
“I have been a patient organizer and research consultant in the long COVID space since the onset of the pandemic in 2020,” she said. ”I've found that consulting is one way to be able to work with my symptoms, but it doesn't cover everything. So I've had to use my neuroscience degree to deliver food with Uber Eats.”
She said she feels the world has moved on from the pandemic, leaving those suffering from long COVID behind.
“I think that there has been a big effort to declare the pandemic is over, and that's actually not following the science,” she said.
Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, a professor at USC Keck School of Medicine, said he believes there are thousands, like Sieber, in L.A. County living with long COVID.
“The last public health study by LA County was done in 2023, and that estimated there are over 600,000 Los Angeles County residents afflicted by long COVID,” she said.
He said more research support is needed on a local, federal, and state level, and that they’ve called for the county board of supervisors to create a 12-month task force.
Siebert has also launched a got-long COVID campaign on Instagram.
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