Long COVID has put 4 million out of work

Dr Anthony Byrne, Consultant Respiratory Physician and Lung Specialist, consults with a COVID-19 positive patient inside 'the bubble' at St Vincent's Hospital on December 2, 2021 in Sydney, Australia. (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)

While much of the public has moved past the COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic itself has yet to move past the public. Indeed, many of those who contracted COVID months or even years ago have since become sufferers of "long COVID" — a colloquial term for post-acute sequelae SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC). Referring to the cluster of long-term symptoms that often persist even after the initial COVID-19 infection has passed, as many as 20% of those who contract COVID-19 will end up with long COVID symptoms. 

While much research has fixated on the causes and treatments for the range of symptoms that typify long COVID, there has been less research into the economic effects — as measured by the number of people out of the workforce due to their chronic illness. Now, a recent study from the Brookings Institute reveals that long COVID's legacy is measurable in dollar signs as well as literal human suffering.