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Long COVID Is Keeping 4.1M People Out Of Work, Study Shows
Aug 26, 2022 05:44 AM By Dawn Geske
Long COVID symptoms may be preventing as many as 4.1 million people from working, according to a new study from the Brookings Institution.
The study bumped up the number of people out of work due to the virus disorder more than twice earlier estimates of 1.6 million full-time workers – a fact that could be key in solving labor shortages.
By looking at four new questions about long COVID from the Census Household Pulse Survey, Brookings Institution nonresident senior fellow Katie Bach said that the impact from long COVID could "worsen over time if the U.S. does not take the necessary policy actions."
According to Bach, about 16 million Americans aged 18 to 65 have long COVID, with 2 to 4 million of these people out of work due to their symptoms. Lost wages for these individuals are around $170 billion a year and potentially skyward of $230 billion, she said.
But what is more startling is the unknown reason why people get long COVID and how to treat the condition that can linger for months, then go away, and then come back.
Symptoms of long COVID vary by person but can include tiredness, malaise, fever, shortness of breath, cough, heart palpitations, headache, sleep problems, dizziness, change in taste or smell, depression, or anxiety, among several others, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"With 16.3 million working-age Americans afflicted and annual wage losses totaling nearly $200 billion, long COVID is already a meaningful drag on U.S. economic performance and household financial health. And absent intervention, the situation is likely to worsen," Bach said, adding that the "government should take the threat of long COVID as seriously as the numbers show it to be..."
Aug 26, 2022 05:44 AM By Dawn Geske
Long COVID symptoms may be preventing as many as 4.1 million people from working, according to a new study from the Brookings Institution.
The study bumped up the number of people out of work due to the virus disorder more than twice earlier estimates of 1.6 million full-time workers – a fact that could be key in solving labor shortages.
By looking at four new questions about long COVID from the Census Household Pulse Survey, Brookings Institution nonresident senior fellow Katie Bach said that the impact from long COVID could "worsen over time if the U.S. does not take the necessary policy actions."
According to Bach, about 16 million Americans aged 18 to 65 have long COVID, with 2 to 4 million of these people out of work due to their symptoms. Lost wages for these individuals are around $170 billion a year and potentially skyward of $230 billion, she said.
But what is more startling is the unknown reason why people get long COVID and how to treat the condition that can linger for months, then go away, and then come back.
Symptoms of long COVID vary by person but can include tiredness, malaise, fever, shortness of breath, cough, heart palpitations, headache, sleep problems, dizziness, change in taste or smell, depression, or anxiety, among several others, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"With 16.3 million working-age Americans afflicted and annual wage losses totaling nearly $200 billion, long COVID is already a meaningful drag on U.S. economic performance and household financial health. And absent intervention, the situation is likely to worsen," Bach said, adding that the "government should take the threat of long COVID as seriously as the numbers show it to be..."
Researchers estimate that at least $170b in wages may be lost annually due to long COVID symptoms, report says.
Aug 26, 2022,
Suffering long COVID (illustrative)iStock
A new report published this week by the Brookings Institution showed that up to four million people in the US may be out of work due to long COVID, NBC News reported.
The report noted that this number could add up to at least $170 billion per year of lost wages.
The report examined US adults who worked full-time or the equivalent of full-time hours prior to suffering long COVID. This number was estimated based on federal data to be around 12 million people in the US.
The researchers then examined how many people were out of work or working less hours due to persistent health issues following a COVID-19 infection, NBC added. They used the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, including as long COVID sufferers only those whose symptoms lasting three months or longer, and who did not suffer those symptoms before they contracted COVID-19.
The Brookings Institute then determined that between two and four million people in the US are working reduced hours or not at all due to long COVID.
Katie Bach, the report's author and a nonresident senior fellow at Brookings, was quoted by NBC as saying, "This is a shocking number. If this looks like other post-viral illnesses, some people will recover, but there will be this big stock of people who don't, and it will just continue to grow over time."
"Every time you get COVID, you risk getting long COVID. It's not like once you've had COVID once, or once you've been vaccinated, then you're all clear," Bach said. "If people keep getting infected and reinfected, we will continue to have new cases of long COVID emerging."
In June, a study from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that 19% of adults who had previously been infected with COVID-19, and 1 in 13 adults in the US, suffer from long COVID symptoms.
A new report published this week by the Brookings Institution showed that up to four million people in the US may be out of work due to long COVID, NBC News reported.
The report noted that this number could add up to at least $170 billion per year of lost wages.
The report examined US adults who worked full-time or the equivalent of full-time hours prior to suffering long COVID. This number was estimated based on federal data to be around 12 million people in the US.
The researchers then examined how many people were out of work or working less hours due to persistent health issues following a COVID-19 infection, NBC added. They used the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, including as long COVID sufferers only those whose symptoms lasting three months or longer, and who did not suffer those symptoms before they contracted COVID-19.
The Brookings Institute then determined that between two and four million people in the US are working reduced hours or not at all due to long COVID.
Katie Bach, the report's author and a nonresident senior fellow at Brookings, was quoted by NBC as saying, "This is a shocking number. If this looks like other post-viral illnesses, some people will recover, but there will be this big stock of people who don't, and it will just continue to grow over time."
"Every time you get COVID, you risk getting long COVID. It's not like once you've had COVID once, or once you've been vaccinated, then you're all clear," Bach said. "If people keep getting infected and reinfected, we will continue to have new cases of long COVID emerging."
In June, a study from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that 19% of adults who had previously been infected with COVID-19, and 1 in 13 adults in the US, suffer from long COVID symptoms.
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