Long Covid Awareness Week
“Long COVID is like being taken hostage in your own body, it is not just a lingering cold, it is a profound disruption to normal life. People need hope and action. Until you experience this kind of thing you cannot fathom the amount of resilience and mental fortitude you must have to survive.” – a consumer who lives with Long COVID
10-15 March 2025 is Long Covid Awareness week.
Since 2020, HCCWA has advocated for the needs and interests of health consumers in relation to COVID, both in relation to information, and to healthcare. While the acute period of COVID has passed, data suggests that between 5 and 20% of Australians experienced ongoing symptoms more than three months after a diagnosis of COVID. Some of these people had experienced fairly mild symptoms when they initially had COVID, but the ongoing symptoms can become debilitating and are often poorly understood among practitioners. One survey of people in WA who were experiencing Long COVID symptoms found that around 17% of people who were working full time before their COVID diagnosis had been unable to return to full time work 90 days after their initial infections, because of the complications of Long COVID and Long COVID recovery.
Consumers have shared their journeys with us. Some of them feel that their doctors don’t believe them, or don’t believe that Long COVID is the cause of their ongoing symptoms. They also report that doctors don’t seem to be well-informed on Long COVID symptoms, Long COVID treatment, and management.
There were Long COVID clinics and Long COVID support services in Western Australia in place for a short-time, however, many Long COVID Clinics have closed. The closures were poorly managed, with patients not being informed of the closure and appointments being cancelled without alternative avenues of care being offered. The East Metropolitan Health Service Post COVID-19 clinic remains open, but it is only available to patients who reside in the East Metro catchment area or those from the Kimberley, Pilbara and Wheatbelt.
We’re interested to know – what questions or concerns do you have about COVID or Long COVID and Long COVID community resources in Western Australia?
Share your feedback with us via this short survey and we will share the responses with the Department of Health.
If this topic is of interest to you, Emerge Australia is undertaking lots of advocacy work on Long COVID.
Follow them here – Emerge Australia Inc
Bronwyn Ife | Systemic Advocacy and Engagement Lead
Published on March 10, 2025 | For media enquiries: 0488 701 839
References
Tindle, Robert. Long covid Sufferers can take heart, Australian Journal of General Practice Vol 53, No 4, April 2024
Woldegiorgis M, Cadby G, Ngeh S, Korda R, Armstrong P, Maticevic J, Kniwght P, Jardine A, Bloomfield L, Effler P. Long Covid in a highly vaccinated but largely unexposed Australian population following the 2022 SARS coV-2 Omicron wave: A cross sectional study. Medical Journal of Australia. March 2024
Long covid Australia, a review of the literature. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 16 December 2022 https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/covid-19/long-covid-in-australia-a-review-of-the-literature/summary)
Costantino, V, Grafton Q, Kompas T, Chu L, Honeyman D, Notaras A, Macintyre CR; The public health and economic burden of long covid in Australia 2022-23: A modelling study, Medical Journal of Australia, August 2024