Long COVID-19, persistent somatic symptoms and social stigmatisation.

We applaud the efforts of van Daalen et al to raise awareness about social stigma towards COVID-19.1 The authors provide multiple examples of how social stigma is harmful for COVID-19 containment on a global scale, as well as on an individual level. The infectious nature of COVID-19 ensures that social stigmatisation of patients is rooted in a fear of contagiousness, accompanied by beliefs that patients are to blame, and thus responsible, for their disease. These feelings of blame towards patients often perpetuate after recovery.1 The phenomenon of perpetuated blame is especially salient given the longevity of COVID-19 symptoms in some patients after …