John Gerrard earlier this month said that identifying Covid as a sinister or unique virus was “doing more harm than good”.

Miquette Abercrombie said the comments had left her seething. (9News)

“It’s time to stop using the term Long Covid,” Gerard said.

“To identify Covid as a particularly sinister or unique virus is doing more harm than good.”

The comments prompted backlash from Australian long Covid sufferers, including Victorian woman Miquette Abercrombie.

Two years ago, Abercrombie said she was training for a marathon, but she now needs a wheelchair after battling the illness since April 2022.

“The person you see right now is a shell of who I was,” she told 9News.

Before 2022, Abercrombie had been training for a marathon. (9News)

She said the chief health officer’s comment had left her seething.

“It makes us invisible, that we mean nothing.”

Chief Health Officer John Gerrard made the comments two weeks ago. (9News)

Gerrard’s claims followed the release of new Queensland Health research on Long Covid, which found its symptoms are real, but the same as post-viral symptoms of other illnesses, like the flu.

But Queensland infectious diseases expert, Dr Paul Griffin, said it was too early to make that call.

“It’s not peer reviewed, and so I think it’s not necessarily something we can place a lot of weight on in terms of that research,” he said.

Queensland Chief Health Officer John Gerrard
Queensland Chief Health Officer John Gerrard. (Matt Dennien)

“The message around removing the term Long Covid is one that can only really be harmful for those people that are really struggling to get the help they need.”

Queensland’s Acting Chief Health Officer this weekend apologised for the distress caused by the research, telling 9News in a statement that it wasn’t the intention.

Gerrard could not be reached for comment.

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