State health officials forms council to learn more about long COVID

The Minnesota Department of Health has formed a long COVID council as it expands its work into the condition.

The agency has formed a network of 20 primary care providers and specialists who are treating long COVID patients across the state. The group is known as the Long COVID Guiding Council.  The council will develop strategies to educate providers and help them implement processes and policies that will improve access and quality of long COVID care.

MDH says it aims to increase knowledge, awareness and resources for long COVID among the public and providers.

“Clinicians are telling us that there is very little communication among the care providers who see long COVID patients in Minnesota and that a coordinated learning network would increase access to care and the quality of care that is provided,” said Dr. Ruth Lynfield, state epidemiologist and medical director at the Minnesota Department of Health. “We still have a lot to learn about long COVID.”

Long COVID effects can vary greatly, from cold and flu-like symptoms to life-threatening complications.  MDH says tens of thousands of Minnesotans face ongoing or new symptoms, such as shortness of breath, extreme fatigue, dizziness, brain fog, and more.