Managing long Covid: the next unknown for OH?

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As worries grow about the potential impact of long Covid on the long-term health and return to work of employees who have had the virus, OH will need to be proactive in providing guidance and leadership. Nick Thorpe and Hannah Disselbeck outline six ways practitioners can be supporting employees with long Covid.

The Office for National Statistics has estimated that more than one million people in Britain have suffered or are currently suffering from ‘post-Covid syndrome’, more commonly now known as ‘long Covid’.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), meanwhile, defines long Covid as “signs and symptoms that develop during or following an infection consistent with Covid-19 which continue for more than 12 weeks and not explained by an alternative diagnosis.”

Far-reaching impact on workplace health

Long Covid represents the next great unknown when it comes to employers’ response to the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on workforce management is therefore potentially far-reaching.

In recent guidance, Acas has encouraged employers to treat long Covid like any other illness. However, that advice masks the fact long Covid is not like other serious illnesses currently regularly dealt with by employers, HR professionals and occupational health.

Symptoms of long Covid vary greatly, ranging from breathlessness or organ damage to depression or memory loss.

There is still much debate in the medical literature concerning the causes of long Covid, as well as, crucially, its prognosis.

It will therefore be very diffic