By Dorothy Wigmore
Long COVID is real: What can be done?
It’s debilitating staff and students alike, among others. It’s a mish-mash of symptoms and diseases that too often are not recognized, understood, taken seriously or treated effectively, much less prevented. Globally, education is one of the worst sectors hit since the pandemic was declared six years ago on March 11, 2020.
We’re talking about long COVID—also called Post-COVID-19 Condition or Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC).
The invisible and dynamic disability is a result of getting infected in this COVID-19 pandemic, whichever virus variant is going around, including current ones. Yes, the pandemic is still with us, however tired we are of it; it’s only the emergency that the World Health Organization (WHO) declared over in 2023.
What is it?
“If we learn one thing from this pandemic, we must recognize that ‘pandemics disable people’—that is, acute infections can lead to chronic disabling disease,” long COVID researcher Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly told a U.S. Senate Committee in January 2024.
Make no mistake: long COVID is disabling. The WHO defines the umbrella term as “the continuation or development of new symptoms three months after the initial SARS-CoV-2 infection, with these symptoms lasting for at least two months with no other explanation.” The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it “includes a wide range of symptoms or conditions that may improve, worsen, or be ongoing.”
What’s unusual is that it encompasses 200-plus symptoms and conditions involving almost every system in the body. Recovery may be complete or incomplete, and too many have return bouts and permanent effects.
Individual effects vary, as does severity, from hidden effects through mild and come-and-go symptoms to life-changing/limiting conditions such as heart attacks, strokes, diabetes and myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.
Dysautonomia (e.g., postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome/POTS) is common; those disorders disrupt the autonomic nervous system, which controls things such as blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature, breathing and digestion. Other ones are fatigue, “brain fog,” cognitive impairment, depression, and cardiovascular, respiratory and metabolic problems. “Post-exertional malaise” from often-small physical, cognitive or emotional stimulation can put people in bed for days.
Anyone who gets COVID-19 can get long COVID; 90% follows a mild infection. It can start in two ways, Dr. Avindra Nath explained in a 2025 webinar. Either someone leaves the hospital with persistent symptoms, likely from acute infection damage, or they have a mild or asymptomatic case, don’t seek medical care and later develop new symptoms.
The odds increase with the number of infections. Women are twice as likely as men to get it, for reasons to be determined, as are people with underlying conditions and those unvaccinated for the virus.
Long COVID is not rare, affecting at least 20 million U.S. adults by 2024, ranging from 13-28% of those in prime working years. Studies estimate up to 5.8 million American children also have it. These numbers far outweigh those for SARS-CoV-2 deaths and the prevalence—the numbers currently ill—is higher than other chronic diseases such as childhood asthma or diabetes and climbing.
Personal consequences are stressful and frustrating. They may face overall disability, poor quality of life, less or inability to work or go to school, loss of income and health insurance as well as increased out-of-pocket expenses.
Beyond that, social and health care systems are used more, fewer people work in key sectors and workers compensation systems are paying out big bucks. A 2025 study found current long COVID cases could cost US society at least $2-$6 billion annually.
How are education staff affected?
Long COVID has disrupted careers for education staff, while posing organizational challenges.
In 2022, an EdWeek Research Center survey found that almost 20% of U.S. education staff surveyed said they had contracted long COVID, translating to hundreds of thousands in the sector. At least half said they knew at least one co-worker with it, and just over 40% said at least one of their students has had long COVID. A year later the numbers were down, reflecting recovery and, likely, how many left the sector.
We’re still learning but we know a lot
“I think the biggest challenge, really, was getting them to understand initially what my symptoms are and trying to explain what I’ve been doing and how I’ve got to where I am,” a U.K. study participant said. It’s a common experience for too many.
Yes, we’re still learning about long COVID. Numbers affected, reported symptoms and repercussions vary, depending on the definition used, as do explanations about the causes.
However, we do know long COVID is a real, chronic, disabling, life-changing disease causing significant global economic challenges. It is a public and occupational health quagmire, with wide-reaching effects. Without a cure, prevention is essential.
What can health and safety committees do?
The only way to prevent long COVID is to prevent getting COVID-19. To that end, committees need to push for:
- The local association and school districts to recognize the pandemic is still here and the virus is in the air, so precautions are needed
- Inspections and regular maintenance of ventilation systems, with reports that get follow-up action
- Cleaning the air in all school spaces and on buses, using ventilation, filtration and upper space UV
- Respirators, as needed.
Committees also can:
- Conduct walk-throughs/surveys to identify air quality issues and other factors contributing to the spread of airborne hazards.
- Learn more, and survey members, about COVID-19 and Long COVID concerns and experiences.
- Respond with workshops or conversations that provide information and opportunities to develop informed responses that support and protect members.
Members with long COVID need support, including recognition of their reality and accommodations required under the Americans with Disabilities Act, where long COVID is designated as a disability. Reduced stressors, such as pacing—how much someone does, how often—are key examples of appropriate actions.
Resources
- Bateman Horne Center: Long COVID
- Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, Addressing Long COVID: Advancing Research and Improving Patient Care (2024 testimony to a US Senate Committee)
- Long COVID Web
- Insights from Long COVID Clinical Research and Therapeutic Approaches
- Rory J. O’Connor and others, Work and vocational rehabilitation for people living with long COVID
- The RECOVER Initiative