Covid `Long Haulers’ Ask Who Pays When Sickness Just Won’t End

(First of two parts)

Stefanie Miller sounds like she’s rushing every word to take another breath.

Her voice is airy from vocal-cord damage, after 21 days on a ventilator that scarred her face. She’s battling extreme fatigue. Her joints ache. She’s losing her hair.

“No one knows how long it’s going to take for long-haulers to get over the symptoms,” said the 53-year-old second-grade teacher from Plantation, Fla., referencing the term for survivors whose illnesses just won’t go away.

Millions of people will live with coronavirus’s effects long after the pandemic subsides. Even mild cases have caused lung, heart ...