ABSTRACT
Against the backdrop of large infection rates and deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that it is individuals who have been most impacted by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This chapter focuses on four such individuals. They are all women who developed COVID-19 during the first wave of the pandemic in the UK. Each has gone on to develop Long COVID. However, this is where the similarity between them ends. Three speak English as a first language. The fourth woman is a native speaker of Romanian and has a good level of English proficiency. All but one woman enjoyed good health prior to her COVID illness. Although all four women have Long COVID, only three of them report cognitive-linguistic difficulties as part of their illness. The variation between these cases is a salient reminder that COVID-19 affects people from all linguistic, social, and health backgrounds. The language profiles of these women are examined alongside the onset and development of their COVID illnesses.
