More than one million people in the UK are now living with Long Covid, with teachers and education support staff the second most likely profession to be affected, only just behind healthcare workers.
The debilitating condition includes symptoms of the virus, lasting organ damage, impairment of mental processing, extreme fatigue and shortness of breath, leading to exhaustion after even minor activity. Many report their daily activities severely impeded and are left unable to work.
Launching the campaign at NASUWT’s Disabled Teachers’ Consultation Conference, the Union has also called for reasonable adjustments, flexible working and financial compensation for teachers left unable to teach as a result of contracting Covid at work. Such compensation already exists for healthcare workers, whose careers have been prematurely ended by Long Covid.