With each new article about someone who had died from COVID-19, the commenters would erupt with accusations. The comment sections of many news articles were brutal. The pandemic may be a golden age for science and health journalism, but not for the comment section. The way the media covered COVID-19, and the way that audiences responded, were big indicators that Americans viewed the chronically ill as unimportant, especially in the early months of the 2020 hellscape. This chronic disregard leads someone like me to the conclusion that this country has trouble viewing the chronically ill as important, productive members of society. That eagerness to overlook the plight of chronically ill Americans is reflected everywhere from dinner tables to media coverage to ostensibly progressive health care systems. Many don’t fully grasp that they or someone they love is actually living with a chronic illness right now that leaves them at higher risk of COVID-19 complications. It seems that many cannot conceive of the fact that a person can appear healthy and lead an active, productive life while also living with a long-term condition that has challenging, life-altering symptoms. has a complicated relationship with chronic disease. If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught me anything, it’s that the U.S. What I was really dreading was that my health and wellbeing as a chronically ill person would soon take a back seat, my monthly medication supply, once deemed essential, would be delayed and withheld, and the medical team once so vital to my life would be impossible to get a hold of. So wearing masks and social distancing made sense and almost felt natural to me, at least at first. I have lived with lupus for more than a decade and an autoimmune blood disorder for the last four years, so I’m used to avoiding gatherings or visits with people who have obvious symptoms of infectious disease. Because I take immune-suppressing drugs to control my condition, I’m already cautious about my outings during flu season, and know how to slyly dodge a handshake from a person who has just sneezed or coughed. increased by the tens, hundreds, and then thousands last March, I and many others in the chronic disease community knew what to expect. ![]() ![]() As the number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S.
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