U.S. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden return to the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, Aug. 8, 2022. U.S. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)
"Millions of us are being disabled from post-viral disease, and we need urgent action from our government," says demonstrator and MEAction advocacy director Ben HsuBorger.
NEW YORK, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- A group of protesters suffering from long-term COVID-19 symptoms demonstrated outside of the White House on Monday, calling out U.S. President Joe Biden for his remarks on CBS's "60 Minutes" saying the COVID-19 pandemic was "over," reported The Hill.
The nonprofit MEAction Network organized the protest, in which demonstrators, some of whom suffer from myalgic encephalomyelitis, or chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), laid on the sidewalk holding signs, according to the report.
"We are sick and disabled with ME/CFS and Long COVID but we are here today, putting our bodies on the line, to tell President Biden that the pandemic is not over, that millions of us are being disabled from post-viral disease, and we need urgent action from our government," demonstrator and MEAction advocacy director Ben HsuBorger was quoted as saying in a statement.
Long COVID is a term used to describe patients who still suffer from virus-like symptoms that can last for weeks or months after initial infection. ME/CFS is a chronic disease that can be contracted after a COVID-19 diagnosis.
According to MEAction, ME/CFS symptoms leave 75 percent of those with the disease unable to work and 25 percent bed-bound. ■