Does “Long COVID” Contribute to Unemployment?

The Monetary Committee of the Bank of England was one of the first economic institutions to raise the issue. In a speech on May 9 (New window)economist and committee member, Michael Saunders, said the chronic form of the disease was one of the main factors explaining the shortage of workers in the United Kingdom.

It is alleged that millions of workers have been forced to take an extended furlough or quit their jobs because of symptoms that persist for several months after being infected with COVID-19.

Saunders said other factors, such as the effects of Brexit and closures during various waves, are also aggravating the situation. However, analysts were surprised the extent and persistence of labor shortageshe said.

He recalls that between 10 and 20% of people infected with COVID-19 experience symptoms for at least three months. With at least 22.5 million infections in this country, Mr. Saunders estimates that thousands, if not millions, of those with the disease are unemployed.

The latest data from the UK shows a dramatic decline in participation rates among people aged 50 to 64, mostly due to chronic conditions. The data also shows a very high number of women not working due to chronic diseases. It should be noted that three quarters of people have COVID is long are women.

This signal from the Bank of England went unnoticed. David Cutler, a professor of economics at Harvard University, also raised this issue in an editorial on Journal of the American Medical Association (New window) in May.

The high number of people unable to work due to persistent COVID-19 symptoms will undoubtedly have a direct impact on the economy, labor market and the rate of inflation, he wrote.

The relatively little attention given to the “long COVID” is unfortunate, as its health and economic consequences are likely to be as significant as those due to acute illness.written by Mr. Cutler.

This economist recalls that at the beginning of 2022 an analysis on Brookings Institute (New window) Warns that more than one million Americans are at risk of being excluded from the labor market because of the diagnosis of COVID is long -represents a revenue loss of $ 50 billion annually. This same study estimated that 15% of the approximately 10 million jobs available in the United States will not be filled due to post-COVID-19 syndrome.

A significant number of these people worked mainly in the service, sales and healthcare industries, fields severely affected by the labor shortage.

Another signal in the United States, where post-COVID-19 syndrome is considered a disability underAmericans with Disabilities Act (New window) : The number of Americans with disabilities working or looking for work increased by 1.36 million (a 23% increase) between January 2021 and January 2022.

While the data is still preliminary, Laurette Dubé, President and Scientific Director of McGill Center for the Convergence of Health and Economicsbelieve that these economists are asking the right questions.

” There is a big intersection between health and the economy. We need to take a closer look at the economic effects of the long COVID. We cannot think of health as a separate element of the economy. “

He believes more data is needed on people with this syndrome to better understand the economic consequences now and in the long run.

These consequences, Carrie Anna McGinn has already seen. He has not worked since he became infected in December 2020 due to a range of disability symptoms. For him, Canada will clearly experience a tsunami of disability cases.

If this Quebecer, with a master’s degree in community health, is keen to return to work, he or she struggles to carry out his or her daily routine. I find it hard to shower more than once a week. I was confined to the house. I had to give up my career that I loved so muchhe said to a panel (New window) marked the first National “Long COVID” Awareness Day in Canada.

Carrie Anna called on governments to get their heads off the sand and face the problem.

” We all want to go back to our lives, to our careers. We have no income, no disability support. “

Rise in presenteeism

Separately, David Cutler wrote that while many people with post-COVID-19 syndrome return to work, they are less productive due to a range of neurological symptoms, including fatigue, difficulty concentrating and mental fog. .

A survey by the COVID-19 Longhauler Advocacy Project found that 51% of people with “long COVID” work fewer hours because of their symptoms.

A study of more than 200,000 COVID-19 survivors, published in Lancet Psychiatry (New window)showed that one in three people infected with COVID-19 was diagnosed with a neurological or psychiatric disorder within six months.

This was also mentioned by Inez Jabalpurwala, Global Director of Viral Neuro Exploration (VINEx), a non-profit organization that aims to invest in how viruses affect brain health.

Half of the respondents (New window) in a survey conducted by VINEx reported reduced their working hours; 74% of them reduced them by 50% or more.

” “Long COVID” can also exacerbate presenteeism: the loss of productivity that occurs when employees are not fully functional in their workplace due to illness, injury or medical condition. “

Many of the symptoms associated with this syndrome are neurological, and the problem is not very serious, Ms Jabalpurwala believes. He added that employers should offer those willing to return more flexibility and a gradual return to work.

Surveys were conducted (New window) of the UK Trades Union Congress found that a quarter of employees with long-term symptoms were reluctant to tell their employer and that one in 20 respondents felt pressure to retire or resign. One in eight people said their boss did not believe they were sick.

Our knowledge economy relies on “optimal brain capital” to ensure economic prosperity. “Long COVID”, along with its negative consequences on brain health, affects thissaid Ms. Jabalpurwala.

Can we estimate how many people are affected?

It is still very difficult to estimate how many people are suffering COVID is long, because most Canadians do not have access to PCR tests for several months. Thus, the number of reported cases is further underestimated.

In Canada, officially, nearly 3.9 million cases have been reported since the pandemic began. We know, however, that in Quebec only (New window)from January 2022 to May 2022, the estimated number of infections exceeded 2.6 million.

All things considered, if we assume that 10 million Canadians have been infected since the beginning of the pandemic, there could be more than a million people suffering from COVID is longrepresenting 5% of the Canadian labor force.

We see the same signs elsewhere in the world.

The VINEx survey (New window) shows that more than 70% of respondents have to stop working because of this disease, sometimes more than a year, and some have to leave the labor force. A quarter of them said they had to be disabled and 44% could not access disability insurance.

A study by the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec (INSPQ) shows that, in the province, 40% of health care workers infected in the first waves of the pandemic had symptoms for at least 12 weeks and one-third of them reported persistent disability in way of thinking.

Nearly 10% of Quebec health care workers who had symptoms after four weeks confirmed that they were still unemployed; 73% said they returned to work even though they had not yet recovered.

The authors of this study warned that the quality of health care could be affected due to the very high number of workers struggling with post-COVID-19 syndrome.