Absences from work, loss of income and more frequent visits to the doctor, the long COVID will cost both the sick and society in the long term.
“The long COVID, employers should be afraid of it”, launches the advisor in group insurance and annuities, Jimmy Côté.
His clientele, mostly made up of SMEs, cannot afford to lose a single employee due to the labor shortage, he says.
However, initial studies tend to show that the impact is already being felt.
Absenteeism
In Canada, a pan-Canadian survey conducted by the Viral Neuro Exploration (VINEx) group, among a thousand people suffering from long-term COVID, showed that 60% of patients had to be absent from work and 69% reduced their time.
In the UK, a quarter of employers cite long COVID as the main reason for absenteeism. But here, the Employers’ Council considers that the phenomenon is “marginal”.
Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association spokesperson Ken Gagnon says this is “a real concern and [les] members are starting to receive complaints related to the long COVID”. However, the Association is unable to fully define the extent of the situation.
Absenteeism or disability also harm the portfolios of patients. Mr. Côté stresses that there is “nothing to pay” to be compensated by an insurer, for example.
“There is the cost of treatment, but the bulk of the cost is the loss of income for the person and for society,” adds André-Pierre Contandriopoulos, professor emeritus at the School of Public Health in the University of Montreal.
New chronic disease
The long COVID must be seen as a new chronic disease, according to Simon Décary, researcher at the University of Sherbrooke.
Simon Décary, Assistant Professor of Rehabilitation and Researcher at the Patient-Centred Rehabilitation Research Laboratory at the University of Sherbrooke – Photo Courtoisie
“Before the pandemic, there were 20,000 people on public service rehabilitation waiting lists. People with long COVID are just added, ”he says.
Also according to the VINEx pan-Canadian survey, one-third of respondents with long-term COVID have visited their doctor more than 10 times in the past year because of their symptoms.
Simon Décary thus urges the government to officially recognize the long COVID. “At the moment, insurers do not recognize the disease, so patients have a lot of problems [à se faire indemniser]. It’s catastrophic, young adults have lost their jobs, their homes. Mental health problems are exploding,” he laments.
Healthy employees more affected and sicker
More than 800 health care workers infected with COVID-19 had to be compensated for more than three months, unable to return to work, according to data provided by the CNESST.
The Standards, Equity, Health and Safety Commission compensates workers infected with COVID-19 at their place of employment.
According to data obtained by The newspaperthe health care sector accounts for almost all the accepted requests, i.e. nearly 26,000 out of 30,000. Of this number, 803 requests concern compensation for more than 90 days, of which almost half for an absence of at least 10 months.
While the majority of compensated workers have returned to work, nearly 600 claims were still pending at the end of February.
On the other hand, the Ministry of Health and Social Services does not know how many health care workers would suffer from the long COVID.
COVID long at 40%
Up to 40% of healthcare workers infected with COVID-19 experienced symptoms after 12 weeks, a recent study by the Institut national de santé publique du Québec found.
The percentage climbs to 68% among infected workers who also had to be hospitalized. The study was conducted last year, with just over 6,000 people.
No wonder, according to Dr. Thao Huynh, researcher at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center and epidemiologist-cardiologist.
Not only were they among the first to confront the new virus, they were also exposed to greater viral loads by going to the bedside of sick patients, she says.
A heavy weight
For the physiotherapy researcher and scientific co-director of the Quebec COVID-Pandemia Network, Simon Décary, the long COVID weighs heavily.
“Like the large number of healthcare workers infected during the pandemic who are unable to return to work,” he points out.
Nevertheless, Mr. Décary also sees an advantage in this. Many doctors, nurses and orderlies testified to the symptoms that have plagued them for many months, giving visibility and credibility to the long COVID.
Other post-viral illnesses, such as myalgic encephalomyelitis, or chronic fatigue syndrome, are misunderstood and often underdiagnosed.
Reference-www.journaldemontreal.com