The last year has seen the entire world grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic. As the vaccine rollout begins to show the way back to normality, we’re now seeing that Covid-19 can have a sting in the tail. For some, it appears the after-effects of Covid-19 can be just as debilitating as they show symptoms of post-Covid syndrome, also known as long Covid.
What is long Covid?
When Covid-19 enters the human body, our immune system goes to work.
The invader triggers two responses. First up is the innate immune response, the front line which fights initial symptoms such as coughs, aches and fever. It aims to keep the virus at bay until back up arrives in the form of the adaptive immune response. This is the specialist attack unit, the SAS of the immune system, if you will. It targets the specific invader now it knows what it’s up against. It learns its shape, so it’s able to recognise and fight it again.
Both of these attacks can happen at the same time and it’s this that can cause problems as the immune system attacks anything it sees as an invader.
This can lead to the immune system beginning to attack healthy cells, leading to further problems. These problems are what we now recognise as long Covid.
What are the symptoms of long Covid?
One of the problems with diagnosing long Covid is that it can present in so many ways. On top of that, it can appear in a person who had a mild case of Covid-19 or who never even knew they had the virus.
Symptoms can include fatigue, shortness of breath, headache, muscle and joint pain, cognitive difficulties, vertigo, and chest pain.
The symptoms of long Covid can be extremely debilitating, leading to long-term health issues, a lower quality of life, stress and anxiety. They can also present as overlapping symptoms, which may change over time, affecting any system in the body.
What does this mean for your clients’ businesses?
Employees diagnosed with long Covid may be off work for a long time. And when they are ready to return, it’s likely they’ll need to adopt a phased return to work or even come back in a different role.
This could be particularly challenging for smaller businesses, where fewer people are available to pick up extra work arising from a colleague’s absence.
What support can your clients get?
With such a long list of symptoms, it can be difficult to diagnose long Covid without first ruling out other conditions. Private medical insurance can help with this process.
Because long Covid is a chronic condition, your client’s private medical insurance is likely to cover the cost of investigations up to the point of diagnosis, after which it’s likely that that benefit will cease. However, support may be available for your clients’ mental and physical wellbeing through added value benefits such as wellbeing apps and mental health services. This is where it’s beneficial if your client has both private medical insurance and group income protection, as the two benefits complement each other. Private medical insurance offers diagnostic support and group income protection can help to support rehabilitation, while providing a financial safety net.
Once long Covid is diagnosed, the insurer can work with your clients to offer their employee a tailored phased return to work plan. This may include added value services to help them rebuild the mental resilience and physical fitness to do their job. Services are available
which can support behavioural changes to help manage their condition, as well as providing advice on symptoms such as fatigue.
The provider may also offer services such as tools to help improve the mental and physical wellbeing of employees. Typical examples include wellbeing apps, employee assistance programmes and counselling and nutritional services.
So, long Covid is certainly not a condition which progresses along a single, predictable route, and nor is there a ‘one fits all’ approach to combating its effects. But there are numerous ways in which employers can help protect their businesses – and, of course, their people – against the unique set of challenges it poses. And, with help from you and their insurer, as well as medical professionals, they don’t have to stand alone against it.
The post Dr Subashini M: Why long Covid could be a threat to your client’s business appeared first on Corporate Adviser.
