Despite warnings from Canada’s Chief science observer, that long COVID could be a “mass disabling event,” it remains unclear whether Newfoundland and Labrador government or authority has any plans to address the condition.
What is clear is that it’s affecting thousands of people in the province, says infectious disease’s researcher Tara Moriarty.
She says it’s likely that so far, somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000 people in the province developed COVID symptoms in December 2021 that have lasted longer than three months.
“We’re still looking at a really substantial number of people in Newfoundland and Labrador who probably developed COVID-19 in the last year or so,” said Moriarty, who leads an organization called COVID-19 Resource Canada, which provides a weekly forecast about the risk of COVID-19 in different regions.
The health authority has refused to talk to CBC news about what is any, treatment plans for long COVID it has.
“While the department sets provincial priorities and strategic objectives for the health system in Newfoundland and Labrador, the provincial health authority, now known as NLHS, is directly responsible for the operational administration and delivery of health services,” reads the Department of Health’s statement.