Surgeon general and CDC launch ‘online dialogue’ on workers and long COVID

Washington — In an effort to learn more about long COVID-19 in workplaces, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, along with the Department of Labor and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is asking the public to weigh in via a national online dialogue.

In the United States, an estimated 20% of people who contract COVID-19 experience symptoms that last three months or longer, a DOL press release states. Those symptoms include fatigue, shortness of breath, “brain fog,” heart palpitations, headaches, anxiety and depression.

Understanding and Addressing the Workplace Challenges Related to Long COVID is a virtual, crowdsourced dialogue. Participants are encouraged to share comments and submit ideas – or support others’ suggestions – they believe can “help federal agencies identify and respond to long COVID’s workplace challenges, and help reduce the employment and financial impacts of the condition.”

Specifically, DOL is seeking information on the following:

• Challenges workers face as they cope with symptoms.
• Employer support for workers with long COVID.
• Ways to inform workers and employers about long COVID.
• Organizations to engage to develop solutions for those affected by long COVID.
• Obstacles to obtaining disability benefits that workers with long COVID face.