Lost productivity due to long COVID cost the Australian economy $9.6 billion in 2022, new research has found.
According to the Department of Health, “long COVID is where symptoms of COVID-19 remain, or develop long after your acute illness“.
Researchers from UNSW, ANU and the University of Melbourne calculated the number of lost labour hours due to workers’ ongoing COVID-19 symptoms in 2022.
The joint study found long COVID had a “significant” impact on the workforce.
Long Covid
Symptoms of long COVID can include fatigue, headache, coughing, shortness of breath, insomnia and brain fog. Symptoms can last for weeks or sometimes months.
People with underlying conditions are at higher risk for long-term complications from COVID-19, according to the Health Department’s online resource ‘Healthdirect’.
Studies are continuing to investigate why some people develop long COVID while others do not.
Study
New research published in The Medical Journal of Australia found that up to 1.3 million Australians were affected by long COVID at the height of the pandemic, in September 2022.
The study found long COVID had “significant” health and economic impacts, “especially on working adults,” resulting in on average, roughly 100 million lost labour hours in 2022.
“This is equivalent to an average loss of eight hours per employed person, per year, including both full-time and part-time employment,” Professor Quentin Grafton from ANU said.
The research found that 30 to 49-year-old workers with long COVID had the greatest economic impact, contributing to more than 50% of total labour and productivity lost in 2022.
The study estimated economy-wide losses worth about 25% of Australia’s real gross domestic product growth for 2022.
However, Professor Grafton noted the economic impact of long COVID could be much higher, as the research doesn’t account for losses “such as healthy employees who can’t work because they’re caring for others with long COVID.”
Recommendations
Researchers urged the Government to make long COVID policies a priority. This included calls for broader access to vaccines and boosters.
The study found current policies make it “difficult for younger, healthy people to access boosters or antivirals.”
In addition, it suggested efforts to improve indoor air quality to reduce the spread of disease.
Professor Raina MacIntyre from UNSW also called for financial assistance for Australians who are “unable to work because of their symptoms”.
