The health and economic burden of long COVID in Australia is significant, especially on working adults. ANU research suggests better policy is needed to support people living with long COVID to help them manage their condition. This could include factoring long COVID into policy that informs guidance on boosters and antivirals, and greater attention on indoor air quality.
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Based on The public health and economic burden of long COVID in Australia, 2022–24: a modelling study, by Valentina Costantino, Quentin Grafton, Tom Kompas, Long Chu, Damian Honeyman, Adriana Notaras, and C Raina MacIntyre, published August 2024.
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About 100 million labour hours were lost in 2022 because of long COVID. This equates to about $9.6 billion lost to the Australian economy.
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By December 2024, it’s estimated up to 873,000 Australians could still be living with long COVID 12 months after they were first infected.
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Governments should factor long COVID into policy that informs guidance on boosters and antivirals to working-age Australians.
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in September 2022, between 310,000 and 1.3 million Australians were living with long COVID. By December 2024, ANU researchers say there will be up to 873,000 Australians still living with long COVID 12 months after they were first infected.
New research from ANU, UNSW Sydney and the University of Melbourne has found long COVID cost the economy, on average, about $9.6 billion in lost work hours in 2022. The research team calculated the number of lost labour hours of Australian adults who were unable to work, or were forced to work reduced hours, in 2022 because they were experiencing ongoing COVID-19 symptoms up to 12 months after their initial diagnosis.
The costs
About 100 million labour hours were lost in 2022 because of long COVID. This is equivalent to an average loss of eight hours per employed person, per year, including both full-time and part-time employment.
The age bracket of Australian workers with long COVID who are impacting the economy the most are those aged 30 to 49. Workers in that age bracket contributed to a loss of 52 million worked hours, or more than 50 per cent of the total labour and productivity lost in 2022.
Current policy settings
A predominant focus of COVID-19 health policy is prevention of hospitalisation and death from acute COVID-19, with less attention given to long COVID.
In Australia, it’s primarily the immediate outcomes of acute COVID which are used to determine eligibility for antivirals and the importance of vaccines.
Healthy people under 70 are not eligible for subsidised antivirals, while vaccines are restricted for children. Those under 65 years, unless immunocompromised, are only eligible for a vaccination every 12 months instead of every six months for those 65 years or older.
New policy opportunities
The research findings highlight the need for governments in Australia to treat long COVID as a public health priority and factor long COVID into policy that informs guidance on boosters and antivirals.
Greater attention should also be placed on indoor air quality with improved ventilation and air filtration to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection, and thereby long COVID, particularly in healthcare and aged care settings.
Policymakers could also consider how to support those with long COVID who are unable to work. This could include offering financial assistance for long COVID patients, at least for those who are unable to work because of their symptoms, such as access to a disability pension. This would help reduce patients’ economic burden.
“This could include offering financial assistance for long COVID patients, at least for those who are unable to work because of their symptoms, such as access to a disability pension.”
