▪️Changes in health status following SARS-CoV-2 infection are common and can occur at any age.
▪️Symptoms are frequently experienced for months or years and can increase over time.
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▪️Future health impacts can be expected in addition to the effects that are already observed.
▪️ Some people who are currently well post-Covid are already expressing biomarkers of risk for cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative disorders, autoimmune diseases & cancers.
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▪️Society, sector & workforce effects of Long Covid are costly and disruptive, and they worsen existing inequities.
▪️ The frequency of (often undiagnosed) cognitive impairment after a mild infection indicates a need for risk assessment of impacts on occupational safety.
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▪️Because of rapid viral evolution, Covid-19 waves are not showing a consistent pattern of improvement over time.
▪️Without intervention to reduce cases, the prevalence of Long Covid is more likely to increase than to decrease.
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▪️When an infectious disease is common in the population, its long-term effects become common too.
▪️At a population level, modest-looking proportions of a post-infectious health risk readily translate into very large numbers.
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The report concludes that:
“Our evidence summary strongly suggests that Long Covid is a major threat to individual health, societal wellbeing and economic performance.”
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The Appendix of the report expands further on this important point:
“Choosing to ignore potential harms is indefensible when the risk can be reduced using a combination of new knowledge and well-established public-health approaches.”
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The authors recommend 3 immediate actions:
▪️Conducting a comprehensive Long Covid risk assessment.
▪️Rapidly reduce infection & reinfection rates using well-established public health & social measures.
▪️Expand Covid-19 vaccine eligibility and coverage.
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Appendix 2 provides further details of the proposed components for Covid mitigation, including:
▪️Support for self-isolation of infected cases
▪️Improve indoor air quality
▪️Maintain mask use in high-risk indoor environments eg health care
▪️High & equitable vax coverage
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Below is a press article about this report, highlighting the fact that, in terms of occupational risk, teachers are the most vulnerable to getting Covid - and, in turn, most at risk of getting Long Covid.
Below is another press article which includes comments from NZ Education Institute president Mark Potter.

Potter revealed that his union had heard from a lot of teachers who were struggling to continue in the profession due to Long Covid.
The chart of Covid case rates by occupational group can be found in the chart below, showing that teachers are at significantly higher risk of Covid infection than any other occupation.
One of the authors, @AmandaKvalsvig, tweeted earlier that schools MUST be made safe since they’re the hubs of their communities, linking public settings & households.
The only effective way to reduce Long Covid is to reduce Covid cases.
This report is a truly outstanding piece of work and could form the blueprint for ANY government willing to confront the enormous health & economic challenges presented by repeated Covid infections and the resulting impact of Long Covid.
Meanwhile, in the UK 🇬🇧, a paper was recently published by @CambridgeEcon on the economic burden of Long Covid.
The report estimates that, if the UK prevalence of Long Covid increases to 4m people by 2030, there will be a £2.7 BILLION loss in GDP & 311k job losses PER YEAR.
“We live immersed in an ocean of air, yet we hardly ever notice its presence. However, without air we would simply not be able to survive.”
“We must reshape & redesign the building environment, while focusing on optimizing indoor ventilation and the air we breathe.”
Introduction:
This purpose of this document is to introduce “an innovative method to quantify the risk of SARS-CoV-2 airborne transmission in indoor settings, thereby providing an alternative approach to developing ventilation requirements that lower the risk of infection.”
2. This is one of the new studies published this week (29 Feb 2024).
Researchers found that those with Long Covid had measurable memory & cognitive deficits equivalent to a difference of 6 IQ points which lasted for a year or more after infection.
I can understand powered respirator hoods not being allowed since the air exiting the PAPR hoods is not filtered & therefore doesn’t provide any ‘outbound’ protection.
Similarly with valved FFP3 masks.
But, as long as the FFP3 mask isn’t valved, why would it not be allowed?
If they mean that *valved* respirators are not allowed (as per guidance below), why don’t they clearly specify that?
To put a blanket ban on ALL FFP3 respirators for patients known to be infected with an extremely contagious airborne disease seems v odd.