long-hauler

plural long-haulers

1. A truck driver who covers long distances to deliver goods, often being away from home for extended periods of time.

   A run-down truck stop on an old tobacco highway. Long-haulers eating breakfasts in corners. A church group in the gift shop.

   2010, David Goodwillie, American Subversive, New York, NY: Scribner, →ISBN, page 21

2. A COVID-19 patient who is suffering from the symptoms of the disease for a significantly longer period than the average.

   Stephanie Schroeder, 50, is a COVID-19 long-hauler who tells her story to encourage others to get the vaccine.

   2021 August 11, Nedra Rhone, “OPINION: COVID long-hauler is now vaccine advocate”, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

   2 more examples

   The disease’s “long-haulers” have endured relentless waves of debilitating symptoms—and disbelief from doctors and friends. […] Yet support groups on Slack and Facebook host thousands of people like LeClerc, who say they have been wrestling with serious COVID-19 symptoms for at least a month, if not two or three. Some call themselves “long-termers” or “long-haulers.”

   2020 June 4, Ed Yong, “COVID-19 Can Last for Several Months”, in The Atlantic

   Fourteen months later, battling chronic effects of the deadly coronavirus and saddled with permanent viral-induced asthma, she is labeled a long-hauler.

   2021 July 27, Julie Kotsis, “‘I would just hate to see somebody go through this’; Young COVID-19 long hauler encourages others to get shot”, in Woodstock Sentinel-Review, Windsor, Ontario, page A3