A new study reveals that Long COVID is taking a significant toll on the US workforce, with millions of Americans potentially unable to work due to lingering symptoms.
Researchers at Yale School of Medicine found that 14% of working-age individuals with Long COVID symptoms hadn't returned to their jobs within three months of their initial infection.
“When we compare the rates observed in this study to the national population, it could mean as many as 2 million people may be out of work because of post-COVID conditions,” the lead researcher Dr. Arjun Venkatesh at the Yale School of Medicine said.
The study, published in PLOS ONE, analyzed data from over 6,000 COVID-19 patients across eight states and found that nearly 10% of employed participants reported five or more symptoms of Long COVID months after infection.
"This is not a small problem. It also has impacts on those people individually in terms of their own income security and their ability to care for themselves and their families," Arjun added.
The study suggests that people with Long COVID may need the same sort of economic relief and support that was provided to people during the pandemic.
