While a typical case of COVID-19 might prevent other people from running for a few days or weeks, prolonged COVID, the term for cases where symptoms persist for months or even years, forces some employees to retire permanently from the workforce. .
An estimated 16 million painting-age Americans suffer from prolonged COVID, according to Census Bureau data. Between 2 and 4 million of those adults are unable to paint because of the disease, according to a report from the nonprofit Brookings Institution that examines the effect of the disease on the nation’s workforce.
The symptoms of a long COVID come with excessive tiredness and fatigue; shortness of breath; difficulty thinking or concentrating, also known as “brain fog”; headache; muscle pain and more, all of which can affect workers’ ability to do their jobs. The disease not only affects an individual’s health, but also has economic implications, with a waste of at least $170 billion a year in lost wages, the think tank found.
“The message is that we are not doing the correct risk calculation. Saying, ‘I’m not going to go to the hospital and die, it’s okay,’ is not the time to think about it if we don’t. “understand the magnitude of the long COVID,” Kathryn Bach, author of the report, told CBS MoneyWatch.
Estimating the lost wages of other people with COVID in the long term does not take into account other costs, such as medical treatments and reduced productivity for those who continue to work but have reduced capacity.
The impact of the long COVID could also explain some of the hard work shortage the country has experienced during the pandemic. Widespread layoffs and job cuts.
Alli Fish, a 36-year-old West Tisbury, Massachusetts resident and meteorologist, contracted COVID-19 in October some time before being eligible for a booster injection. Almost a year later, he still has symptoms that add mental confusion. , dizziness and fatigue.
Fish, who is the mother of a young child, had just started a new task at the time, working remotely as a weather and soil scientist for the Washington, D. C. -based American Farmland Trust. its condition deteriorates.
“In January, I couldn’t do undeniable responsibilities that I knew how to do before, and suddenly it became very apparent that I wasn’t running at all close to my general self,” Fish told CBS News. “I had a hard time remembering safe things, concentrating and thinking. “
To cope, Fish began adding normal rest periods to his workdays, an accommodation his employer was willing to make. He also reduced his hours, but his symptoms persisted.
Scroll through documents on a screen and receive consecutive Zoom calls either. In May, he stopped running altogether.
“I was given to the point where I had to leave absolutely because my condition was getting worse and I was worried about my ability to improve and be able to get through my day safely,” she said.
Fish earned a portion of his salary through the Massachusetts paid family and medical leave program. But this aid expires at the end of August, when the family will depend entirely on her husband’s source of income as director of a private club.
“It’s been complicated and will continue to be complicated because we live in a position that is expensive and we didn’t intend to have a single source of income with a child,” she said. “We definitely got a monetary hit because of my loss of the source of income. “
People with long-term COVID also face other prices beyond lost wages, experts note.
“Lost profits is a major concern, but in the most sensible, there are also medical expenses because there is a lot left to know about the long COVID,” said Carri Chan, a professor of health care at Columbia Business School. treatment. It’s largely trial and error, which can also be costly. “
For example, because Fish has not yet recovered from COVID, he continues to pay for the care of his child’s child. He has many medical appointments and receives physiotherapy, craniosacral treatment and acupuncture.
“It’s a massive monetary strain on me to have a disability on top of the loss of income,” he said.
A complete athlete, Fish is used to persevering and “overcoming” pain. But their recommendation for covid-19 long-haul flights is to take the opposite path.
“I spent so much time in my life. I was a long-distance athlete, I had a baby with oxytocin and no epidural. I have a lot of courage. But if I had gone ahead with this, I would. “they got worse and worse,” Fish said. It was a very clever lesson that pushing to the end is not the solution. “
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