Prime Minister,
In a press briefing on February 2, Dr. Boileau said that we had enough resources to take care of long-term COVID cases in Quebec. That he recognizes the existence and importance of the long COVID reassured us; however, we do not believe that he realizes the magnitude of the work that remains to be done and the magnitude of the resources that must be allocated to treat all those affected by this complex and misunderstood health problem.
Currently, those who live with persistent symptoms of their COVID-19 infection are in a precarious situation and must fight, despite the little energy left by the disease, to obtain services and to have access to essential diagnostic tests.
These people have to carry their diagnosis with arms length and explain that their symptoms are not in their head, are not the work of professional exhaustion, depression or bouts of anxiety.
They find themselves on endless waiting lists and are sometimes confronted with doctors who still doubt the existence of the long COVID; they must for themselves glean information left and right in order to discover where to go for bits of help, how to participate in research projects, where to be heard and understood.
Forsaken guardian angels
The government has a duty to offer unconditional support to these people struggling with the long-term effects of COVID-19, many of whom are the famous “guardian angels” who, during the first wave, worked in essential services. or responded to the government’s call and came to lend a hand in CHSLDs.
These people, who supported their fellow human beings despite the risks they ran to their own health, now feel betrayed and neglected by their government. For the latter, they are now part of the statistics related to absenteeism at work. However, it is not because of a lack of willpower, anxiety or lack of interest in their profession that they are absent, but rather because of the physical and intellectual disabilities that make them unfit for work.
Multidisciplinary clinics
It is morally untenable to leave so many adults on their own, some of whom are still very young and have much to contribute to their society. They must be taken care of quickly by setting up specialized multidisciplinary clinics well aware of international research (cardiologists, pulmonologists, infectiologists, immunologists, neurologists, gastroenterologists, otorhinolaryngologists, etc.).
Teams specializing in rehabilitation must also be available throughout Québec, bringing together physiotherapists, occupational therapists, psychologists, dieticians-nutritionists and speech therapists.
People living with long-term COVID must daily mourn their “before” life. It’s time to offer them quality services, at the cutting edge of the latest research, so that they too can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Courtesy picture
On the left, Geneviève Dubé in the summer of 2018, before the disease, and on the right, in the summer of 2021 after the infection.
Geneviève Dubé, Dietitian-nutritionist
Infected in May 2020
On behalf of 160 other people with long-term COVID