Campaigners are calling for Long Covid to become an occupational disease which would merit compensation for frontline health and key workers still suffering in misery months after catching the virus.
They are supported by Westminster’s All Party Parliamentary Group on Coronavirus which has won the backing of 65 MPs and the British Medical Association.
Chairwoman of the group, Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran, argues that “heroes of the pandemic” who got the virus while serving the public should be eligible for regular monthly compensation payments.
Many have still not returned to work because of debilitating chronic fatigue associated with Long Covid.
Moran said: “Ministers need to recognise Long Covid as an occupational disease, provide formal guidance to employers on the issue and create a compensation scheme for key workers who have caught the virus and been unable to return to work.”
Chaand Nagpaul, the BMA’s council chairman, cites cases of doctors struggling financially because they are unable to return to work due to Long Covid. “It is only right that ministers urgently provide a compensation scheme to support healthcare staff and their families,” he said.
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