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March 11 marks four years since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic. But while much of society has moved on from masking, quarantining, and isolating, some still feel the effects of the pandemic every day. Bishof, 34, who continues to experience Long COVID, says that many patients she speaks to still find it difficult to get people and doctors to take their symptoms seriously, or feel concern at being the only person masked in a hospital waiting room. “There’s no mitigation left,” Bishof says. “It’s hurry up and move on.” “ Having the government guidelines for prevention largely rolled back has only made the experience for Long COVID patients and immunocompromised people in 2024 more isolating. Cynthia Adinig, 38, has been dealing with symptoms of Long COVID since 2020, and says that, as someone who is immunocompromised, trying to avoid reinfection in a society in which most people have stopped masking has drastically impacted all aspects of her life. “It shrinks everything down so much,” she says. “My world gets smaller and smaller outside of these doors.” Adinig says it’s a constant struggle to create a sense of normalcy for her son, who contracted COVID when he was 4 and also deals with mild Long COVID symptoms. Now 8, he’s an avid chess player, but competing in tournaments has become tough now that masking is no longer a requirement. “Places don't understand how much not masking excludes those of us who are immunocompromised,” Adinig says.