Long-Covid keeping 31,000 Aussies off work, new figures show

While thoughts of lockdown and Covid restrictions are all but gone, tens of thousands of Aussies are still battling with the after-effects of the virus long after testing positive.

A silent pandemic devastating lives is also having a serious impact on the economy, with more than 31,000 Australians off work every day suffering the effects of long-Covid.

As health experts continue to study the little-understood disease, new figures show about 12 per cent of Covid absenteeism is due to long-Covid, further fuelling Australia’s critical workforce shortage.

News Corp can exclusively reveal new Department of Treasury analysis on the effect of long-Covid has estimated the Australian economy lost three million working days in the first six months of 2022 due to the illness.

Analysis of worker absenteeism found about 31,000 workers a day were off work due to the illness nationally in June.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the thousands of workdays the economy was losing to long-Covid was just “one part of a complex picture” and would be considered at the Jobs and Skills Summit next week.

Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers. Picture: Gary Ramage

“(It) gives a sense of what we’re all up against,” he said.

“Covid is having a long-term impact on the productivity of our workforce – which is why productivity will be discussed in the opening session next week and supporting workers is front of mind right through the (Summit) agenda.”

More than 30,000 Australians are suffering from long Covid.

Patients with long-Covid can suffer from tiredness, difficulty breathing, chest and joint pain, low energy, fever, headaches, problems with memory, depression or anxiety.

About 4.5 per cent of people who test positive for Covid will have symptoms for four weeks, while 1.2 per cent suffer for six months or longer.

About 10 per cent of long-Covid patients work zero per cent of their normal hours prior to infection.

Mr Chalmers said there wasn’t a person in Australia who hadn’t been impacted by the pressures in the labour market – either as a worker, an employer or a consumer.

Aussies are suffering from the virus for weeks and months after first getting diagnosed. Picture: Toby Zerna

“These pressures are complex, there are no quick or easy fixes,” he said.

“Whether it’s challenges with skills shortages, or stagnant wages, or flatlining productivity, these are all big factors holding the economy back which is why they are all front and centre at the Summit.”

Mr Chalmers said the Summit bringing together unions, employers, government and industry would hone in on problem areas in the workforce economy where there was broad agreement on potential solutions.

“We can’t solve all these challenges overnight, but we are going to do everything we can to come to a consensus on the solutions.”

“That’s how we build a more resilient economy and a better future.”

The Health Department advises vaccination as the “best way to reduce the risks” of Covid-19, including long Covid.

“Many long-term side effects from Covid-19 are still not known,” a fact sheet on long Covid by Health Department said.

“This is why it is important that you do everything you can to protect yourself against being infected with the Covid-19 virus.”

Originally published as Long-Covid keeping 31,000 Aussies off work, new figures show