Media
For journalists.
Who we are, who to talk to, what we’re working on and the figures we cite, in one place.
Contact
About LCAC
Long COVID Action Canada is an emerging, patient-led initiative working for better research, care and policy for people affected by Long COVID across Canada. It finds decisions that can still be changed, makes a clear, sourced ask of the people who can act, gives the public practical ways to support it, and publishes every reply and next step.
Spokesperson
Robert DeRosa founded Long COVID Action Canada. A former teacher who ran marathons, he has lived with Long COVID since early 2020 and has spoken publicly about it to raise awareness and push for access to care.
- United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) RECOVER initiative: patient representative on the Community Advisory Group; peer reviewer for RECOVER Long COVID ancillary studies; member of the RECOVER-Treating Long COVID (RECOVER-TLC) Community Advisory Board; co-author of RECOVER research publications on postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) and electrocardiography (ECG).
- Community Engagement Alliance Consultative Resource (CEACR): lived-experience expert panellist for this NIH-supported program at the University of Pittsburgh.
- Canadian COVID Society: Long COVID Committee member; helped shape patient advocacy priorities and calls for better care and disability support; helped organize and deliver International Long COVID Awareness Day events.
- Living with Long COVID exhibition: Community Advisory Group member and contributor to the exhibition, co-produced by Simon Fraser University’s Faculty of Health Sciences and the Museum of Vancouver.
- Background: master’s in public policy from the National University of Singapore, with a specialization in social, environmental and urban policy; former international educator in Japan and Singapore.
Coverage
Campaign coverage
- The Sick Times, 22 September 2026 · People with Long COVID demand pause of McMaster University clinical trial ↗
Robert’s earlier story and advocacy
- CBC News (video) · Long COVID patients rally across Canada on International Awareness Day ↗, with Dr. Angela Cheung
- The Sick Times, February 2026 · Snapshots of the unseen: how we focused Long COVID in a recent photo exhibition ↗
- The Sick Times, June 2025 · Long COVID is increasing housing insecurity, but support programs fail to help ↗
- The Hamilton Spectator · He ran marathons and hiked Everest. But after being ravaged by long COVID, this Hamilton man can’t work — he can barely leave home ↗
- Issues in Science and Technology, Winter 2025 · Centering patients in Long COVID research ↗
- Yahoo News Canada · It’s been 5 years since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic. Canadians are still struggling with long COVID ↗
- Yahoo News Canada · Living with long COVID: Robert DeRosa says he’s ‘missing out on life’ 4 years after getting COVID-19 ↗
- CBC News · ‘A shadow of myself’: Patient urges doctors to listen to struggling COVID-19 long-haulers ↗
Podcasts
- Placeline Hamilton, 3 June 2025 · Living with Long COVID
- Voices of Long Covid, 7 May 2025 · Update episode
- Voices of Long Covid, 22 May 2024 · Panel discussion
- Voices of Long Covid, 13 March 2024 · Episode 1: Robert
Current work
- Access to Long COVID care. Asking provincial and territorial health ministries for clear referral pathways, accessible services and public timelines. Campaign record
- FALCON trial (McMaster University). A public petition asks McMaster to keep recruitment on hold pending independent review of a trial comparing the Lightning Process with activity pacing. Campaign record
- Obeldesivir (Gilead Sciences). A draft request asks Gilead to assess a Long COVID research pathway. Not yet sent. Campaign record
- Ensitrelvir (Shionogi). A first request about Canadian access and Long COVID research is in preparation. Campaign record
- Federal response to petition e-7076. LCAC’s analysis of what the 19 August 2026 response commits to. Read the analysis
Key figures
- 3.5 million Canadian adults had experienced long-term symptoms after COVID, about one in nine.
- 2.1 million still had them as of June 2023.
- 600,000 had missed work or school because of those symptoms.
- 2 in 3 who sought health care for long-term symptoms said they did not receive enough treatment or support.
- These are the most recent national figures. No newer national survey has been published.
Source: Statistics Canada / Public Health Agency of Canada, Canadian COVID-19 Antibody and Health Survey follow-up, reference period June 2023, published December 2023. See the data ↗
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