According to a recent report in Self Magazine, Long Covid is wreaking havoc on a lot of workplaces because a lot of workers are suffering from the debilitating effects of the disease long after they were first infected, and some of these people are UNABLE TO WORK for up to six months or longer.
Here is what Self Magazine said in a recent article about Long Covid:
According to a recent analysis of 3,139 established COVID-related worker’s compensation claims in New York, between January 2020 and March 2022, 71% of people who reported having Long COVID were unable to work for six months or more or they needed continuous medical treatment; 18% of people with Long COVID didn’t return to work after more than a year, and 75% of them are under the age of 60. (Adults over 60 had “significant difficulty” returning to work life too.) It’s also worth noting that the report categorized 83% of “COVID-19 claimants” as essential workers—and that these numbers only include established claims, not the people who couldn’t see a doctor for a diagnosis because of, say, lack of insurance or people who needed to continue working despite their illness to support their families.
So, this is serious because some people are so debilitated by Long Covid that they cannot return to work up to a year after first getting the disease. And a lot of these workers are essential workers. Remember how essential workers were invisible prior to Covid? Now, it turns out that essential workers are getting Long Covid in greater numbers than the rest of the population. Could that become a problem for the society in general? This is entirely possible.
The Center for Disease Control (“CDC”) recently published an article about Long Covid. It has some very worrying statistics. Apparently as many as 1 in every 5 Americans have Long Covid. According to the article: “New data from the Household Pulse Survey show that more than 40% of adults in the United States reported having COVID-19 in the past, and nearly one in five of those (19%) are currently still having symptoms of Long COVID.”
Long Covid symptoms include fatigue, exhaustion, heart problems, brain fog, breathlessness, muscle aches, joint pain, pins and needles, hallucinations, emotional problems, psychiatric issues, and other symptoms. The symptoms vary from one person to the next, but what that means is that long after they were supposed to have recovered from the disease, a lot of people are still showing symptoms. And a lot of times, the symptoms are so severe, they are having a negative impact of the person’s ability to work! Can you believe that? Long Covid is causing people to be unable to work! Are you one of those people? Do you know anyone who has Long Covid and who is having a hard time keeping up at work?
What can you do to prevent Long Covid from having a negative impact on your working life? There are no one-size fits all rules because Covid affects everyone differently. The best thing to do is to see your doctor and get an opinion from your doctor. In some cases, you may need to apply for disability insurance—especially if you are going to be debilitated by Covid symptoms for an extended period of time. In other cases, you may need to speak to a lawyer to see what rights you have under the employment laws if your boss is basically going to fire you for absenteeism due to Covid symptoms. Other times, you may just need to take it easier both at work and at home. It depends on your own personal situation. There isn’t just one way to treat Long Covid. You just need to be aware that it is happening, it can affect your ability to work, and so you have to be careful and take good care of yourself.