Long COVID-19 is keeping a significant number of Americans out of the workforce, according to a Jan. 24 report from the New York State Insurance Fund.
The report examined 3,139 COVID-19-related compensation claims filed between Jan. 1, 2020, and March 31, 2022.
Four report findings:
1. About 31 percent of claims involved people with long COVID-19.
2. Of these individuals, 71 percent experienced symptoms that required treatment or kept them out of work for at least six months.
3. Forty percent of people with prolonged COVID-19 symptoms returned to work within two months of their initial infection while still receiving treatment.
4. Eighteen percent of people with long COVID-19 did not return to work for more than a year.
"Long COVID has harmed the workforce," the state agency wrote. "The report’s findings have implications for the broader labor market and the economy. They highlight long COVID as an underappreciated yet important reason for the many unfilled jobs and declining labor participation rate in the economy, and they presage a possible reduction in productivity as employers feel the strains of an increasingly sick workforce."