Ontario needs to develop strategy to manage long COVID, science table says – CBC

Published literature suggests condition could be burden on health-care system, members say

Sep 07, 2022

Ontario needs a proactive and comprehensive strategy to deal with long COVID, which is likely to impart a significant burden on the province’s population and its health-care system, the recently disbanded science table reported Wednesday.

The team of scientists found that substantial investment in research and health-care resources is needed to mitigate the long-term health, social and economic impacts of long COVID, which they refer to as post COVID-19 condition.

“Given that range of effects of the post COVID condition, it poses a substantial risk and burden to our health-care system, to our citizens and to our economy and social services we need to be proactive in preparing for,” lead author Dr. Kieran Quinn said in an interview.

There still remains plenty of uncertainty around long COVID, including how it is defined, said Quinn, a clinician scientist at Sinai Health Systems and a professor at the University of Toronto.

The science table was dissolved this week, but had said it would wrap up its ongoing work. The brief it published Wednesday focused on understanding long COVID.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ont-long-covid-1.6575161