Paula Lorgelly: Auckland University health economist says effect of Long Covid on productivity reinforces need to stop spread

Long Covid looks to be impacting more than just our health - but our wallets too. 

New research suggests the illness is costing the country $2 billion a year in lost productivity - not including health costs. 

The figure comes from analysis across the ditch suggesting it's likely costing Australia 0.5 percent of its GDP. 

Auckland University health economist Paula Lorgelly told Mike Hosking it reinforces the need to wear a mask and isolate to stop the spread. 

“Let’s try and avoid giving it to somebody and therefore lessening the chance of giving somebody what may be a lifelong debilitating illness.” 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
New research into long COVID. It could it suggest to
be costing US two billion dollars a year in lost productivity.
That number doesn't take into account, by the way health costs.
University of Auckland health economists Paula Lageli is with us
on this. Paula, Good morning, Mornina.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Mike, what is.

Speaker 1 (00:13):
Long COVID and what's the definition? And do we have
a definite definition of what it is?

Speaker 2 (00:20):
There is a WHO definition and there's a definition from
a group of scientific academies in the US, and it
is these sometimes new but often persistent symptoms of COVID
that still exist around twelve twelve weeks, three months after
your COVID infection.

Speaker 1 (00:40):
And is that definitive enough for you as an economist
to put a number around it.

Speaker 2 (00:46):
It's as good as we're going to get, Mike, So
I think we need to put a number on it.
And so at the moment without a diagnosis, there's no
clinical tool to diagnose long COVID. This is what we use.

Speaker 1 (00:58):
How do you come up with two billion?

Speaker 2 (01:01):
Well, we used we don't have any information from New Zealand,
so we used information from Australia. Australia had a really
similar pandemic experience to New Zealand. Obviously we closed our borders,
we locked down. Other countries have done similar estimates and
the OECD has done an estimate, but that includes countries
where they had much bigger numbers of infections in the

(01:24):
early waves before we had vaccination. And so we've taken
the percentage from Australia from this paper that was published
in the Medical Journal of Australia and applied it to
New Zealand context. So that's how we come up with
two billion per year.

Speaker 1 (01:39):
I haven't to read that report the other day out
of Australia when it made news, and it interested to
me to the extent that what is I mean, if
you're not well and you can't work, I mean, what
are we supposed to do with that?

Speaker 2 (01:51):
I know, well, we need to support these people, right,
we need to make sure that they can get disability support,
or we can help manage and manage and treat them
providing long COVID support services. And obviously also we want
to avoid people more people getting long COVID, so we
need to look at prevention as well.

Speaker 1 (02:12):
I reckon we've gone past that, haven't we. I mean,
there's COVID in my eye or ear all feel a
vibe or whatever has gone into the category of it.
It's another thing that you get. It's like the flu.
It's like a cold's taking your day off work. Who
cares whether it's a cold or COVID or flu? Do
you see what I mean? And that's people's mentality.

Speaker 2 (02:28):
Yeah, I know. I mean, And we've all just watched
the Olympics, haven't we, And how many Olympians were in
the Tour de France. How many cyclists and olympians were
at their profession and the peak of their profession, but
performing with COVID and we know that they shouldn't be
doing that because that actually exacerbates the chances of getting

(02:49):
long COVID. Yeah. So if you can take some time
off and you can isolate, greats. If you can wear
a mask, if you know that you're infectious, great. I mean,
let's try and avoid giving it to somebody and therefore
listening the chance of giving somebody what may be a
lifelong debility excuse me, debilitating illness.

Speaker 1 (03:07):
All right, Paula, appreciate it very much. Paula la Gilli
University of Auckland Health Economists For more from the Mic
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