After inability to work, long-term COVID-19 patients face a new nightmare

Rebecca Logan, who worked as a nurse and fitness instructor seven days a week while caring for her two young daughters, was particularly active, until she was infected with COVID-19 while working in the Ambulance Unit of a hospital in North Ireland.

A year later, the 40-year-old is still suffering from long-term COVID-19 syndrome, writes The Guardian. In Ms. Logan’s case, this means that she can only walk for 5 minutes before stopping to rest and she has a constant ringing in her ears.

“I never would have believed that someone could be so tired that fatigue could affect you so much. But fatigue doesn’t even make sense, your body just seems to stop working, “the woman told the British newspaper.

Logan is far from the only one living with a chronic illness. More than 2 million people in England may have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in the long term, according to data released this week highlighting the scale of the disease in the UK and the challenges it poses. An Imperial College study shows that around a third of people said they had been suffering from coronavirus symptoms for at least 12 weeks.

Sickness benefit ends and what to do next?

The human and financial costs of this disease are just beginning to be counted. Each case highlights different symptoms, different speeds of recovery, and many issues related to returning to work or for those who cannot – financial assistance.

Many long-term COVID-19 patients who become ill during the first six months of a pandemic have their right to sickness benefit canceled and must apply for other benefits.

“By law, sickness benefit ends after six months. And a case of long-term disability can be classified as sick if you’ve had it for 12 months. So there is an obvious gap,” said Layla Moran, a member of parliament who heads the all-party parliamentary group on coronavirus.

Moran and other members of the group called on the Prime Minister to provide compensation to workers on the front lines of COVID-19 suffering from the condition. They also want the disease to be recognized as an occupational disease, to provide additional protection to workers and for government guidelines on how employers should help workers when they are sick and how to ensure their safe return to work as soon as possible.

Logan says she feels neglected by her employer – she received sick pay for 21 weeks, followed by a maximum 28-week government sickness benefit of £ 96.35 per week. You are no longer receiving benefits, but have applied for benefits for people with a long-term physical or mental health condition or disability.

You hope to breastfeed again after a while, but you don’t know when you will feel good enough.

I had to quit work at school

Long-term COVID-19 forced 34-year-old high school teacher Toni Shelley to quit her favorite job she had worked at for a decade.

“I just won’t be able to teach again,” Shelley said. “When I do physically recover, or if I do recover, the emotional trauma of working through a pandemic will be too great to return to such a grueling job,” he told The Guardian.

Seven months after being first infected with the coronavirus, she believes that during an outbreak at school, Shelley still has to spend most of her days in bed due to extreme fatigue. You have made the difficult decision to retire and are now counting the last days of your disability benefit, which will end at the end of August.

“I am a little heartbroken that I have given my entire life to the civil service,” Shelley said. – He was left with nothing, no support – I didn’t even get a “Healthy Healthy” card from my school. They don’t necessarily think it’s a long-term COVID-19 syndrome. “

As financial pressure mounted, Shelley’s partner took a second job for the couple to pay off the loan on their newly purchased first home.

Thomas Dekeyser, Doctor of Science from London’s Royal Holloway University, is one of those who feel supported by his employer. The 31-year-old said the university and its manager were understanding and patient during the 10 months before Thomas was exposed to long-term COVID-19 syndrome and was unable to work. They also helped him gradually return to work throughout the day.

“I can’t imagine how you would feel if you had to fight physically, emotionally, and ultimately financially. I can’t imagine how I would have coped with that, “Decyser said.

Employers should help to gradually return

Human resources consultant Kate Underwood believes employers should talk to sick workers to find out how to best help them.

“If an employee says he can work half a day from home in the morning because he feels better in the morning, quit. It will be the best for your own mental health, “said the human resources specialist.

But obviously, not all organizations try to understand and empathize with the needs of their employees.

The period during which an employee can expect to receive sickness benefit depends on the employment contract and, often, the sector in which they work. Not all jobs allow you to return flexibly – work only part of the day or from home.

Moran said that recognizing COVID-19 in the long term as an occupational disease would make it easier for workers to agree to looser terms.

“There are professions where there is already a shortage of workers who, in our view, cannot return or return part-time, and if we do nothing about it, we will see people abandon certain professions unnecessarily because they are not supported. Moran said.

Financial difficulties

Many people with long-term COVID-19 also face financial difficulties when their sickness benefit ends.

“I’m worried that people are running out of money,” said Vanessa James of Ashfords. “If they don’t have a very good contract or some kind of long-term income protection insurance that most people don’t have, unless they have a very high paying job, they will end up in poverty.”

Clive Kay-Lightfoot, 57, of Hampshire, is convinced he contracted COVID-19 from his colleague at the store in November. The store that sells the necessary products was also in operation during the second quarantine. He only started working at this job in 2020. in March, just before the pandemic, which means he was entitled to a limited disability benefit.

At the end of his incapacity for work, his employment contract was terminated for having worked less than two years. Kay-Lightfoot has now applied to the government for an employment and support subsidy, a benefit paid to people under retirement age who have a disability or a health condition that affects their ability to work.

Other long-term COVID-19 patients are also seeking legal redress. Helen (name changed) worked in financial services for five years, but her employer terminated her contract 11 months after she became infected with COVID-19. The 52-year-old woman said she was fired without even considering medical documents. Helen intends to challenge the decision by legal means.

Experts are also concerned that the scale of the problem is currently masked by working from home or government-paid downtime. However, government support has been declining since July and will be withdrawn completely in September.