According to Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach, the long-term health consequences of some corona infections are not only a problem for those affected, but also for the health system and society as a whole. “We don’t have the capacity to deal with the many cases,” he said in an interview with “Zeit Online”. “There are not enough specialized doctors, not enough treatment places, we don’t have any medication yet. Something is really coming our way here.” The problems associated with Long Covid are generally underestimated.
Self-government, telematics, Morbi-RSA: The briefing on health
The SPD politician said: “This will also be relevant for the labor market, because unfortunately many will not return to their old performance.” He is also hoping for a vaccine that will also help against infection with the omicron variant. “Hopefully this not only protects against a severe course, but also against infection and thus also against Long Covid,” the minister continued. Every corona infection carries the risk of long covid, Lauterbach warned on Twitter on Saturday.
According to an evaluation of insured data from Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) published on Wednesday, almost one percent of employees who had received a corona diagnosis with a PCR test in 2020 were on sick leave in 2021 with the diagnosis Long Covid. The sick leave took a relatively long time – an average of 105 days.
Even slight corona infections could cause a comparatively large number of days of absence in the following year, as it was also said. According to the evaluation in 2021, after a mild course, those affected by long-Covid were on sick leave for an average of 90 days – for patients who were in the hospital for more than seven days because of Corona, an average of 168 days. For comparison: In general, every employed insured person was reported unfit for work for an average of 14.6 days in 2021.
TK boss Jens Baas said that the number of people affected by the long-Covid pandemic appears relatively low, according to the analysis. “But these are only the patients who have also been on sick leave with this specific diagnosis – we also assume that there are a large number of unreported cases.”
Complaints that persist for more than four weeks after an infection are generally considered to be long covid – post-covid if they restrict everyday life for more than twelve weeks afterwards. There is no uniform definition of the clinical picture. According to experts, many symptoms are included – from severe fatigue and cognitive impairment to pain in various parts of the body.
