BUSINESS INSIDER – One in seven US workers may experience lingering COVID-19 symptoms like “brain fog” and fatigue.
Long COVID could be preventing 1.6 million Americans from rejoining the the workforce amid widespread labor shortages.
Three healthcare workers told Insider how long COVID has impacted their careers.
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A year ago, Maddy was guiding hundreds of uninsured women through cancer treatment as a healthcare worker at a major Connecticut hospital.
Now, she says she relies on calendar notifications for daily tasks and forgets entire conversations hours after she’s had them. Her sister calls her each night to remind her to lock the door and set an alarm, she told Insider.
Maddy, a long-COVID patient, requested the use of a pseudonym in order to speak freely and protect her privacy, but her identity is known to Insider.
The former hospital worker is one of millions of Americans who have developed long-term health issues from initial COVID-19 infections, including lingering symptoms that significantly impact their daily lives and compromise their employment.
“I don’t use the stovetop anymore,” Maddy said. “There were too many times where I forgot I was cooking something and almost set the kitchen on fire.”
According to the Brookings Institution, a nonprofit research group, one in seven US workers may experience lingering COVID-19 symptoms like Maddy’s. That means long COVID, formally called “post-acute sequelae of COVID-19,” could be preventing or stalling 1.6 million Americans from returning to work amid a national labor shortage.
Long COVID isn’t just a health problem — it’s an economic one, too
According to a February report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, a UK-based human resources organization, one in four employers across 804 surveyed organizations listed long COVID as a top three reason contributing to long-term employee absence … SOURCE.
