There is no safety net for Long Covid.
Five years into the pandemic, Long Covid continues to be a mass disabling event. People with Long Covid and other infection-associated chronic illnesses like ME/CFS are at massive risk of abuse, homelessness, and institutionalization. These risks are even higher for BIPOC, women, and trans people, many of whom have little-to-no income and are reliant on Medicaid or completely uninsured.
Long Covid is classified as a disability under the Americans With Disabilities Act, but most providers of social services are poorly educated on how it impacts their clients, and the existing social services network is poorly equipped to meet their needs. Many people with Long Covid and ME are simply never referred to them due to lack of diagnosis or never being admitted to the hospital. Instead we bounce in and out of emergency rooms, get turned away from inaccessible shelters, and often have no choice but to rely on unsafe partners or family members for care.
My name is Miranda DeNovo.
I’ve spent the last year fighting to keep my friends in their twenties and thirties off the streets and out of nursing homes because the resources we were promised simply don’t exist. I started Long Covid Safety Net to raise awareness about the intersection between post-viral illnesses, domestic violence, and homelessness, and to advocate for truly accessible programs such as expanded access to housing vouchers in New York City and State.
“When we asked them to recommend alternatives, every single service provider just said my friend would need to go into a nursing home. I’m just so frustrated at the lack of awareness of this issue, that sick people are still being pushed into institutions even though we fought for programs to prevent that.”
—Truthout: “Escalating Anti-Homeless Policies Fall Hardest on Disabled People in the US”
Long Covid Safety Net takes its name from the concept of the social safety net, which is often a key consideration in developing Medicaid policy. It also nods to the many contexts in which people living with Long Covid and ME are often not safe—in their homes, at the doctor’s office, and in the workplace, where people often have no choice but to continue if they can’t get disability benefits.
While advocating for better access to healthcare and social services, Long Covid Safety Net recognizes the inherent violences of these institutions, and seeks to build new systems through the practice of abolition medicine. This work is inspired by the peer support movement, patient-led research, Black trans housing coalitions, and the continuing legacy of people with HIV and AIDS.
Want to support or collaborate?
Send me an email at miranda@longcovidsafety.net.