Experts estimate 750,000 to 1.3 million people in the U.S. are experiencing long-term COVID-19 symptoms that are preventing them returning to work full time, putting them in severe financial distress, The Washington Post reported Dec. 9.
Several COVID long-haulers told the newspaper they are being laid off or fired. Some are having to quit their jobs or close their businesses because of symptoms preventing their ability to work. Some are concerned they will lose their home.
Not only are these patients losing income from not being able to work, they're also often losing their employer-sponsored health insurance. But even for those who have insurance, it can be difficult to get tests and treatment covered because it's a new disease without set treatment protocols.
"I've seen patients who have gone from fully insured to not being able to come back and see me in clinic in the middle of our treatment because they have lost their job and no longer can afford to seek care," Janna Friedly, MD, vice chair for clinical affairs at the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine, told The Washington Post.
Tiffany Patino was a server in suburban Maryland but was laid off at the start of the pandemic, she told the newspaper. She had a baby in September and then contracted COVID-19 two months later. To this day, she is experiencing severe symptoms and can't return to work.
"I just feel like kind of a worthless person," she said. "I can't even do something like taking care of my child, cooking dinner, doing laundry and typical stay-at-home mom stuff."
Read the full report here.