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  • The real story behind the “October slide”

    The real story behind the “October slide”

    Lorraine Boissoneault

    Changing seasons affect many people with Long COVID, myalgic encephalomyelitis, and other chronic illnesses, but not all in the same way. Research has a long way to go before it can explain the phenomenon. Read more…

Recent articles

  • Research updates, October 20
    Science
    Miles W. Griffis

    Research updates, October 20

  • National COVID-19 trends, October 20
    COVID-19
    Betsy Ladyzhets

    National COVID-19 trends, October 20

  • Conferences and advocacy events for IACCs must require masking
    Commentary
    Whitney Fox

    Conferences and advocacy events for IACCs must require masking

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The real story behind the “October slide”The real story behind the “October slide”Lorraine Boissoneault
Conferences and advocacy events for IACCs must require maskingConferences and advocacy events for IACCs must require maskingWhitney Fox
National COVID-19 trends, October 20National COVID-19 trends, October 20Betsy Ladyzhets
Research updates, October 20Research updates, October 20Miles W. Griffis
NBA player Kristaps Porziņģis shares POTS diagnosisNBA player Kristaps Porziņģis shares POTS diagnosisMiles W. Griffis

Policy & Advocacy

  • A group of people are pictured lying down in a public square, with a sign in the center of the demonstration reading, "5 years of Long COVID, half a decade of neglect. It's time to make it visible." Some members of the group are also holding signs drawing attention to Long COVID, and many are wearing high-quality masks.
    March 15, 2025

    Live blog: International demonstrations ignite for Long COVID Awareness Day

  • A disease awareness ribbon in the colors teal and gray sits on top of a watercolor map of the world.
    March 14, 2025

    Our community came together to start International Long COVID Awareness Day in 2023. Here’s how you can get involved this year.

  • Photo of Rory Preston with a black and white filter, in front of a blue background with white strings of code and a design evoking biochemistry diagrams
    March 11, 2025

    Accurate statistics for ME and Long COVID are vital. That’s why I started a patient-led organization to “crunch” the diseases.

  • View of a federal building, with a black and white filter and other adjustments to create a harsh tone. The image has also been cut to evoke severe job cuts across the federal government.
    March 3, 2025

    Federal workers with Long COVID face firings, loss of accommodations, and more challenges under Trump

  • February 21, 2025

    Trump commands HHS to terminate advisory committee on Long COVID 

  • A photo of the U.S. Department of Labor Frances Perkins building, in Washington D.C.
    February 11, 2025

    Now offline: Government resources about Long COVID as a disability

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Science

  • An up-close microscopic image shows the main components of blood plasma, including complement C1, immunogloublin G, ferritin, and more. The components that make up the plasma in the shapes of spheres, noodles, and clumps, are colored in different shades of purple, blue, violet, and red.
    February 10, 2026

    Research updates, February 10

  • Collage graphic. The center of the image is a black and white photo of a child lying in bed receiving care from their mother. Behind that is a second photo showing a child's hand, pens, and drawings, including one that appears to show two cartoonish version of pathogens.
    February 3, 2026

    Long COVID affects millions of children. The largest pediatric trial so far launches this year.

  • A Black doctor in a white coat and blue shirt wearing a surgical mask stands before seated, elderly patients in Lagos, Nigeria.
    February 3, 2026

    Research updates, February 3

  • A photo of the Opera House in Sydney, Australia. The building, which resembles white sails, its lit by orange sunlight and contrasted with a blue sky. Two people in the distance take photos of the building.
    January 27, 2026

    Research updates, January 27

  • Graphic showing an array of alarm clocks representing passing time. The clocks have bright purple shadows, set against an orange background.
    January 23, 2026

    New RECOVER-TLC trials won’t enroll until summer. Nearly two years after the program’s launch.

  • An anatomical illustration shows a portion of the human circulatory system. Heart, lungs, arteries, and veins are displayed in a "see through" view of a human's chest and upper torso.
    January 20, 2026

    Research updates, January 20

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Covid-19

  • November 4, 2025

    National COVID-19 trends, November 4

  • Line chart from Biobot Analytics titled, "Regional SARS-CoV-2 Wastewater Concentrations." The X axis represents time, spanning June 2024 to October 2025, and the Y axis represents effective concentration of SARS-CoV-2, copies/mL. There are four lines for the four regions of the U.S. All regions had COVID-19 waves in summer 2024, winter 2024-25, and summer 2025, but magnitudes varied by region. As of mid-October 2025, SARS-CoV-2 levels are trending down in all four regions, and are higher in the Northeast (yellow) and West (green) than the South (pink) and Midwest (purple).
    October 28, 2025

    National COVID-19 trends, October 28

  • October 24, 2025

    Shutdown leaves gaps in states’ health data, possibly endangering lives

  • Multiple line charts show emergency department visits for so-called "respiratory" illnesses in New York City in recent months. The largest chart, in the top and center, shows all visits for these diagnoses with an orange line; visits hovered around 6-6.5% for much of the summer, then rose over 8% in late September, and are going down slightly in the most recent data. Below this one, three other, smaller charts show COVID-19 visits (in blue), flu visits (in purple), and RSV visits (in green). COVID-19 visits have recently declined following an increase in the summer. Flu and RSV visits are both much lower, near 0%. Text at the top of the image reads: "These data show trends of people who received a respiratory illness diagnosis in an NYC emergency department and do not represent everyone with respiratory illness. For example, people who received care outside of an emergency department or who never sought care for their illness are not included."
    October 21, 2025

    National COVID-19 trends, October 21

  • Line chart from WastewaterSCAN showing the average SARS-CoV-2 levels for all sites in their wastewater surveillance network. The Y axis represents quantity of nucleic acids, PMMoV normalized (x1 million), and the X axis represents time, spanning July 2024 to October 2025. The chart shows a COVID-19 wave in summer 2024, one in winter 2024-25, and one in summer-early fall 2025. Levels have significantly declined from early September through early October 2025, and the latest levels are close to the lows reported in May-June of this year.
    October 14, 2025

    National COVID-19 trends, October 14

  • Line chart from Yale's PopHIVE dashboard titled, "Trends in COVID-19 activity in United States." The chart includes seven lines representing different sources of COVID-19 activity data: black for CDC NHSN, dotted black for CDC NSSP, purple for CDC NWSS, dotted pink for CDC RespNET, red for Delphi Doctor Claims, dotted red/orange for Delphi Hospital Claims, orange for Epic Cosmos ED. The Y axis represents scaled COVID-19 activity (with all data sources adjusted to fit on the same axis), and the X axis represents time, going from October 2023 to September 2025. All data sources show COVID-19 waves in winter 2023-24, summer 2024, winter 2024-25, and summer-early fall 2025. The CDC data sources are not available after September 20, 2025, but more recent data from Delphi indicate that COVID-19 levels have continued to decline through late September.
    October 7, 2025

    National COVID-19 trends, October 7

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Health

  • Cartoon-style graphic showing a conveyer belt of people walking through a building labeled "REHA." One person inside the building appears bombarded by negative energy, and two figures on the other side appear to have experienced worsened symptoms following their journey. One is slumped over in a wheelchair and the second is lying on the conveyer belt. The image's background is a gradient of dark blue and purple.
    September 16, 2025

    Germany’s “Reha” clinics aren’t set up for Long COVID. And patients are reporting harm.

  • September 5, 2025

    Building a “community wiki” of Long COVID care: Salvatore Mattera on the Help for Long COVID review site

  • Collage graphic showing a chicken on the left, with an orange filter, a cow on the right, in black and white, and a cutout of a farmworker's silhouette in the center.
    August 27, 2025

    Despite waning headlines, bird flu is still a threat. Here’s how you can help farmworkers.

  • August 22, 2025

    The crisis is “exasperating”: Long COVID compounds economic hardship in Argentina

  • Collage graphic, including a portrait of UK Work and Pensions Minister Sir Stephen Timms, a photo of Sheffield Hallam University's campus, and a photo of advocates from Not Recovered UK raising awareness about ME and Long COVID. The collage also includes screenshots of web pages about disability benefits.
    July 15, 2025

    Left without care: Many Long COVID clinics are closing down in the U.K.

  • Graphic showing an exercise band, with a label on top reading: "Certainty of evidence: Very low," and showing a rating of one of four stars. The graphic has a blue background and light red accents.
    July 8, 2025

    Experts call new Canadian Long COVID guidelines “contradictory” and “deeply concerning”

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Commentary

  • A graphic showing white KN94 masks and yellow and white megaphones in a neat pattern that alternates the two objects. The background is a dark navy.
    September 2, 2025

    How do you get people to care about COVID-19? Here’s what I’ve learned as an organizer.

  • A portrait of Jermaine Greaves, repeated six times in a grid with alternating color tones, white and yellow
    August 15, 2025

    Long COVID taught me to slow down and stop trying to meet able-bodied benchmarks

  • A close up of from the "In Limbo" cover art for Kara Jane's new album. It features art work of a white woman in a white dress floating in blue, abstract water. She stares directly at the viewer.
    August 8, 2025

    Posthumous album of singer Kara Jane released on Severe ME Awareness Day

  • Graphic showing several hands all holding measurement tools, emerging from an open book. One holds an abacus, another a sextant, another two vials of blood, another a skull with lightning bolts coming out of it. The hands are interspersed with overlapping circles in blue, yellow, red, and green.
    August 1, 2025

    As a linguist, I want to find the words to measure chronic illness

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The Sick Times is an independent news site founded by journalists Betsy Ladyzhets and Miles Griffis. We report on the Long COVID crisis, COVID-19, and infection-associated illnesses.

Contact:
editors@thesicktimes.org

PO Box 331009
Brooklyn, NY 11233

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