Charlie McCone was a tennis player, musician, biked 10 miles to work and back daily. But he's spent his entire 30s - 4 years - mostly housebound, with at most 2 hours of energy each day. Many patients like Charlie have been struggling with debilitating long COVID symptoms for years, yet doctors and patients continue to face obstacles in getting medical care and effective treatments. Doctors say there is urgent need for more funding, multidisciplinary clinics, and education for non–long COVID physicians and specialists. Instead, clinics are closing, patients are left in limbo, physicians are burning out, funds are dwindling and financial support is decreasing or being pulled altogether.

"Patients are still being diagnosed every day, yet the resources available are becoming less and less," said Dr. Alexandra Rendely, with the UHN Toronto Rehab.

Meanwhile, patients may appear fine outwardly, but face enormous hurdles. Fatigue and brain fog, for example, can't be measured in appearances. Some have lost jobs, even homes, or both, and the mental toll is why there is a "not insignificant" suicide rate.

Researchers and clinicians now have a greater understanding of what health agencies formally call post-COVID condition, but the wide spectrum of symptoms, slow progress in launching pharmacologic clinical trials, and the research toward understanding the underlying causes mean standardized diagnostic tests and definitive treatments remain elusive. Read the full story on Medscape.