The Conversation: Why governments will have to consider the costs of long COVID when easing pandemic restrictions

Author:
Richard Meade

Research Fellow in Economics, and in Social Sciences & Public Policy, Auckland University of Technology

He also used to suffer from ME/CFS and compares the two in the article as well.

"The social costs of long COVID should not be underestimated. For example, suppose an elderly person contracts COVID-19 and dies, when they might otherwise have lived in full health another five years. A health economist would say their early death has cost society five “quality-adjusted life years” (QALYs).

This is usually expressed as a monetary amount that can then be weighed against the cost of saving that person’s life when deciding on appropriate pandemic protections.

Contrast this with a young person contracting COVID-19 and not dying, but suffering long COVID for 10 years, with their estimated quality of life effectively halved while unwell."​

https://theconversation.com/why-gov...ovid-when-easing-pandemic-restrictions-164944

 

It's an important topic he's writing about, and good of him to disclose his own experiences. I'm glad he doesn't speculate on disease mechanisms, but why can't he just say he was one of the lucky ones and recovered, instead of implying that improvement has to do with determination:

- Recovery required years off work and, with the care and support of family and friends, patient and determined rebuilding of my ability to lead a normal life.