The majority of lung covid patients who reported to the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) in the first months of this year have been declared unfit for work. That reports the government agency on Tuesday. 62 percent of people who can no longer work due to persistent corona complaints are completely incapacitated for work. Another 23 percent receive partial disability benefits.
The organization treated 736 lung covid patients between last January and May. That is about three percent of the total number of disability assessments. Employees who have been ill for two years can claim unemployment benefit from the UWV. Those who earn less than 65 percent of their initial income through illness from work are eligible for compensation.
Symptoms most common among lung covid patients are extreme fatigue, shortness of breath and difficulty concentrating. Especially people who have been seriously ill and who have been in intensive care often suffer from the persistent complaints. In the first corona wave, which started with the detection of the first infection in the Netherlands in February 2020, many healthcare workers became infected. More than six thousand people from healthcare and education have so far reported to the FNV trade union with lung covid complaints.
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