A large proportion of young people are still unemployed due to self-reported long Covid and this is wreaking havoc on employers, one analysis suggests.
The study, released by New York’s largest workers’ compensation insurer, found 71 percent of those identified by the fund as having long-term illnesses with Covid were unable to work for six months or more.
Almost a fifth (18 percent) still had not returned to work a year later, according to data from the first two years of the pandemic. The analysis showed that the vast majority of these workers were under 60 years of age.
This finding is curious since during initial infection, Covid mainly affects those who are seriously ill with the virus – mainly the elderly and the infirm.
The vast majority of claimants — 83 percent — were essential workers or workers who were on the front lines of the pandemic early, such as health care workers and law enforcement
Most applicants diagnosed with long-term Covid had to undergo uninterrupted medical treatments outside of work, which could have affected productivity and business results.
The New York State Insurance Fund report said: “Long Covid is a public health crisis arising from the Covid-19 pandemic. Like a pebble thrown into a pond, its effects permeate all aspects of life in ways that are not yet fully understood.”
As long as Covid continues to ravage the American workforce, a team of Stanford University researchers will test Pfizer’s signature antiviral drug Paxlovid as a viable treatment for the condition.
Long Covid is a condition that includes a wide range of symptoms such as shortness of breath, brain fog and fatigue, as well as depression, which persists for weeks or even years after recovery from the virus.
There is still serious debate about the true extent and severity of the condition, with several studies suggesting that people who develop the condition would have had these common symptoms whether they contracted Covid or not.
The extent of long-term Covid patients is unclear, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one in 13 US adults, or 7.5 percent, has long-term Covid, defined as symptoms that stop three or more months after diagnosis the first time. first contracted the virus.
In some cases, the condition was fatal. The CDC reported late last year that more than 3,500 Americans died from a long-term Covid-related illness in the first two and a half years of the pandemic. Most documented deaths occurred in older adults, with those between the ages of 75 and 84 accounting for nearly 30 percent of deaths.
Today’s New York State Insurance Fund report examined more than 3,100 workers’ compensation claims paid to workers between 2020 and 2022.
Researchers analyzed Covid-related claims submitted between January 1, 2020 and March 31, 2022, specifically those by workers who were found to be infected at work.
More than a year after contracting Covid, more than 18 per cent of workers who filed Covid claims have still not returned to work, according to the council’s report.
The vast majority of them – 78 percent – are under the age of 60. And nearly three-quarters of claimants with long-term Covid suffered from symptoms that required treatment or kept them out of work for six months or more.
The report states: “The implications are far-reaching. Those unable to return to work lose their income and employer-provided health insurance, and … the longer an applicant remains unemployed, the less likely they are to return.
“Being unexplainedly ill and out of work for a long period of time can stigmatize patients and seriously affect their family and professional lives.”
The amount paid out to lung patients was staggering. Of a total of $20 million spent on workers’ compensation claims related to Covid, a total of $17 million was paid to the 977 people identified by the fund as having long-term illnesses with Covid.
Work stoppages were rampant in the first year the pandemic swept the United States.
The public relied heavily on key workers, including those in healthcare, law enforcement and security services, so it should come as no surprise that more than 80 percent of Covid-related claims were made by these frontline workers. It was found that 29 percent of the staff whose applications were approved had long-term illnesses with Covid.
Long Covid has become an umbrella term for a variety of health problems that continue to plague a person weeks, months or years after recovery from the virus.
Scientists have only recently begun to grapple with the long-term health effects of the coronavirus, which has cost people more than money.
Efforts to contain Covid have caused economic turmoil in 2020 for much of 2021. New York was an early epicenter of the virus in 2020, leading to massive absences from work due to illness or other needs, such as school leave. B. looking for childcare.
Although New York and other states have systems in place to protect people injured in the workplace, they are not immune to fraudulent activity.
Last year, New York State Inspector General Lucy Lang arrested a Staten Island man who was convicted of 16 felonies and seven counts of grand theft, insurance fraud, forgery, falsifying company records and welfare fraud.
Ajani Shaw (23) was found guilty of submitting false Covid test results for five months to receive disability benefits.
An employee’s claim was granted if the employee had a positive test and after an evaluation committee determined that the employee was most likely exposed to the virus at work.
A case was considered long-term Covid if a patient required medical treatment for 60 days or more after infection or was absent from work for 60 days or more.
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Crystal Leahy is an author and health journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a background in health and wellness, Crystal has a passion for helping people live their best lives through healthy habits and lifestyles.
