Officials from the Department of Social Protection have admitted they are still engaged in a “back and forth with colleagues in health, teasing out issues” with regard to the designation of long Covid as an occupational illness.
This is despite the fact that frontline healthcare workers suffering with the condition, who contracted Covid prior to November 15 2021, will have their income supports stopped by June next, according to local Independent Deputy, Denis Naughten.
“It seems really bizarre that despite many frontline healthcare workers suffering with conditions associated with long Covid-19 as a result of providing vital medical care to patients at the height of the pandemic, the Department of Health is only ‘teasing out issues’ on occupational illness supports now.
“The Department of Social Protection has been considering a scheme to support frontline workers suffering with conditions associated with long Covid since last November, and yet the one Department that would benefit most from such a scheme, the Department of Health, does not seem to be dealing with the issue with the urgency it requires.
“In a few short weeks frontline healthcare workers who put their lives at risk to care for patients during the height of the pandemic, without proper protective PPE clothing, and who are out of work with conditions associated with long COVID are facing an income cliff-edge as their HSE funded paid leave will cease,” Deputy Naughten stated.
At present, only healthcare workers who were out sick with long Covid conditions prior to November 15 2021, which was before the Omicron variant was detected, are able to avail of this paid leave, with all other frontline workers excluded from any specific supports. Even those workers in receipt of special long Covid supports will see this cease in June this year if they have not made a full recovery allowing them to return to work.
“Earlier this month, I published new polling data indicating that 10% of adults have experienced symptoms of long Covid following an initial period of infection with the virus. The poll, which I commissioned by Ireland Thinks, shows that 12% of women reported having experienced long Covid symptoms, compared with 7% of men. Of this group, 17% reported that their ability to conduct daily activities had been ‘severely affected’ as a result of their symptoms.
“This 10% self-reported incidence of long Covid is up from 6% just four months ago and clearly shows this is a growing problem that could also be associated with ongoing milder Covid-19 infections,” Deputy Naughten concluded.
