By David Tuller, DrPH
Last Thursday (January 18th), the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions held a hearing called “Addressing Long COVID: Advancing Research and Improving Patient Care.” The bipartisan panel included senators who are also physicians and as well as Democrat Tim Kaine of Virginia, who has been open about his own struggles with prolonged symptoms after an acute bout of Covid-19. With testimony from Long Covid patients as well as scientists, the hearing included discussion of needed research as well as the kinds of accommodations required for those grappling with the disease. Betsy Ladyzhets of The Sick Times, a recently launched publication dedicated to covering Long Covid, live-tweeted (or live-X’d?) the hearing and wrote a piece about it. She and I spoke this morning about the event.
2 thoughts on “Trial By Error: Reporter Betsy Ladyzhets on Last Week’s US Senate Hearing”
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I think there should be strong public health messaging that warns of the long term risks of covid infection and also the benefits of wearing really good quality masks. I always wear a good quality mask when I’m out with other people, and haven’t caught covid-19 yet, but I do get very tired wearing one and appreciate that many people struggle with masks for various reasons. I visited a hospital clinic where mask-wearing was requested rather than being compulsory and nearly everyone was wearing one, so I think that may work well in medical settings in this post-emergency time so long as the masks are of high quality and are provided free of charge (as they were in that clinic).
I think Public Health nationally could do a better job of educating the public about infectious disease and how to avoid it, and to learn best protection. We have TV and socail media everywhere. What do they do with their budget?