{"id":3732,"date":"2022-02-19T13:53:17","date_gmt":"2022-02-19T13:53:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/?p=3732"},"modified":"2022-02-19T13:53:17","modified_gmt":"2022-02-19T13:53:17","slug":"mystery-of-the-missing-workers-long-covid-a-big-piece-of-the-puzzle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/?p=3732","title":{"rendered":"Mystery of the missing workers? Long COVID a big piece of the puzzle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Authors: Michael E. Kanell<\/a>, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Feb 19, 2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She suffered cardiac arrest twice and was in the hospital for three months, then came home to more than a year of kidney problems and intermittent brain fog, tingling in her hands, numbness in her right foot and a need for oxygen after even modest exertion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome days, I\u2019m all right, but I can\u2019t tell you which days I will feel good,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s all very frustrating because you know what you were capable of doing before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She is among many people with lingering COVID-19 aftereffects who cannot work or can only work part-time. The condition has been given a name: post-acute sequelae SARS-CoV-2 infection, or PASC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it is commonly called long COVID<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It may be the missing piece in a pandemic puzzle: Why has the number of people in the labor force lagged? Why are there still so many unfilled job openings?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schroederused to supervise nursing students. Lately theMcDonoughresident has been volunteering to run concessions at some high school track meets, trying to edge back toward the workplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt gives me a sense of normalcy,\u201d she said. \u201cBut after last Saturday\u2019s meet, I was bedridden for two days.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While more than 900,000 Americans have died from the coronavirus, the vast majority of people who contract it do survive. But many \u2014 between 10% and 30% of those who live, experts say \u2014 continue to struggle with symptoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is a lot of people: up to 23 million nationwide and nearly 800,000 people in Georgia, according to estimates<\/a> by the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some don\u2019t work. Some are still in the labor force, but at reduced hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Linda Rodin, a wellness specialist at an Atlanta-area supermarket, said she came down with COVID-19 in November. \u201cI never had a fever, but it felt like the sinus infection from hell.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The worst of it passed, but the symptoms clung to her. At one point in December,she said she stopped at a gas station and realized she had no idea how to put gas in the car. \u201cI went back home sobbing hysterically. Things you\u2019ve done your whole life, like tie your shoes, and suddenly are inaccessible. It is terrifying.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She works part-time, grateful that her employer gave her that option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long COVID does not appear explicitly in the labor data. But there are clues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n