Parrotfish 🌍

It was a privilege to be at @covidinquiryuk as part of @LongCovidKids last week. Over 100,000 children are affected in the UK. They live with horrendous symptoms every day. Some like my son have had to give up physical activity, friendships and full-time education. Others are confined to bed, invisible to society; unable to tolerate light, sound and even food and drink. There are no approved treatments and no proper services for these children. Families are often forced to seek private healthcare. On top of this, they have to fight to be believed; too many have been accused of fabricating their child’s disease simply for advocating for them or because the child’s attendance has dropped below targets. It is not a few months of lockdown or masking that has damaged the health of our children. It is the recurrent exposure to a deadly vascular virus which continues to kill & disable millions. Covid never went away; we know that the risk of Long Covid is cumulative (5% with each infection). The risk of acquiring it can be dramatically reduced by cleaning the air in indoor spaces; yet there is zero investment into this area, and children continued to be forced back to unsafe classrooms. This is despite the evidence that apart from reducing the risk of respiratory infections, ventilation improves academic performance and attendance. Of his (at least) 5 infections, 3 of my son’s were acquired through school. We wouldn’t drink dirty water; why are we happy to breathe dirty air? I hope this inquiry results in some accountability for those responsible for the negligence that has resulted in the mass disabling of millions of children and adults. And that there is increased recognition of the need for treatment, support and most fundamentally, for these children & their families to be believed. This is for you my boy 👦🏼❤️. ‘Abbu’ will never stop fighting for you. #COVIDinquiry #children #longcovid #longcovidkids #publicinquiry #volunteers