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Jul 29, 2021

Guidance On Long Covid

      From Guidance on “Long COVID” as a Disability Under the ADA, Section 504, and Section 1557 issued jointly by the Office of Civil Rights at the Department of Health and Human Services and the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice (footnotes omitted):

Although many people with COVID-19 get better within weeks, some people continue to experience symptoms that can last months after first being infected, or may have new or recurring symptoms at a later time.1  This can happen to anyone who has had COVID-19, even if the initial illness was mild.  People with this condition are sometimes called “long-haulers.”  This condition is known as “long COVID.” ...

Long COVID is a physiological condition affecting one or more body systems.  For example, some people with long COVID experience:

  • Lung damage
  • Heart damage, including inflammation of the heart muscle
  • Kidney damage
  • Neurological damage
  • Damage to the circulatory system resulting in poor blood flow
  • Lingering emotional illness and other mental health conditions
Accordingly, long COVID is a physical or mental impairment under the ADA, Section 504, and Section 1557. ...

     I expect that Social Security will "consider" long COVID in determining disability. Decisions will say that long COVID  was "considered" but determined to have been a non-severe impairment.


1 comment:

  1. Several of those things can be measured. Now will it be written as long Covid or chronic pulmonary insufficiency? Don’t know.

    It is unfortunate that neuropsychological testing is so expensive because it is an excellent tool for cognitive issues beyond the basic Montreal test or IQ testing that doesn’t well measure functional ability to recall items or adaptive function

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