"Long Covid" was coined by researcher and patient Dr. Elisa Perego on May 20th as a twitter hashtag, to highlight the long-term time course and uncharacterised complexities of COVID-19. In the months following, this patient-coined term was shared among various social media outlets and advocacy groups to later be picked up by formal clinical and policy channels, such as the WHO and the UK's NIH. Doctors often refer to it as "post-acute Covid" or "chronic Covid", while sufferers call themselves "long haulers".