COVID-19 takes the world by storm and leaves medical sciences clueless and scampering for a cure. As the death toll rose and the systems crumbled, the severity of the virus attack hit everyone hard. When scientific understanding of the virus developed, information on the effects was disseminated among the public. The public were told that for those who did not need hospitalization, the infection from this respiratory virus was a 14-day long affair from which one recovers, eventually. But as many patients reported being bedridden for weeks and months, it brought to the surface the effects of ‘long covid’ and the plight of COVID-19 long haulers.
‘Long Haul’ is a short documentary directed by Noah Greenspan, the founder of Pulmonary Wellness Foundation. In this documentary, Noah highlights the plight of the Covid Long Haulers or those patients who suffered the symptoms of Covid for weeks and sometimes months. Amid the chaos and the deaths, these patients were forgotten, till the Pulmonary Wellness Foundation began a program to help these Long Haulers who were not welcome at hospitals. Statistics show that about 10% of all covid patients become long haulers who were told that the symptoms would go away in a couple of weeks and there was no need for hospitalization. They were often told that it was all in the mind and there was nothing wrong with them as the reports showed. They needed to come together as a group that understood each other and offered the much-needed support.
A thorough documentation of the circumstances that led to the formation of the support group, to an in-depth explanation of the modus operandi of the group, make this a documentary, a chronicle, an inspiration and an educational piece all rolled into one crisp package.
