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Long Covid is the term used to describe the lasting effects of contracting COVID-19 and has been referred to as the “hidden health crisis of the pandemic”.
There is growing support for Long Covid (also known as Long Haul Covid) to be recognised as an occupational disease and for a compensation scheme to be set up for those infected during their work on the frontline.
The All Party Parliamentary Group on Coronavirus (APPG) has called for the government to establish a national register of cases as well as a compensation scheme, similar to the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme, to support those frontline workers who are now unable to work as a result of contracting Long Covid. The APPG has won the backing of 65 MPs and peers, as well as the BMA.
Scientists are still investigating who is most at risk of Long Covid as well as its precise causes and how best to treat it, but Layla Moran MP (Chair of the APPG) suggested that there were no less than 205 identified symptoms associated with the disease. It is reported that the range of symptoms includes debilitating fatigue, dyspnea, muscle pain, dizziness, headaches, fever and vomiting.
It should be noted that Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany and Italy are amongst those countries that have already recognised Long Covid as an occupational disease.
This Blog will be updated with any further developments.
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