Why Governments Will Have To Consider The Costs Of Long COVID When Easing Pandemic Restrictions
Jul 27, 2021 09:37 PM By The Conversation
With governments worldwide under pressure to ease pandemic restrictions as vaccination rates rise and impatience with border restrictions grows, new threats become clearer.
One of the costliest, it is now feared, could be a tsunami of “long COVID” cases.
Long COVID is a serious ongoing illness that follows an acute episode of the disease. It is characterised by extreme fatigue, muscle weakness, post-exertional malaise and an inability to concentrate (“brain fog”), among many other symptoms.
The focus, therefore, needs to shift towards protecting quality of life as much as saving lives in the first place.
Instead of ‘nudging’ families into needless dependency, we’d rather lawmakers encourage families to pursue opportunities and make decisions that are best for their unique situations.
Commentary: The unintended consequences of the American Families Plan
Between our two families, we are raising 11 children.
Under the American Families Plan, we could start collecting up to $33,600 per year in child payments. Had this plan been in place when we became mothers, we could have pocketed up to $630,000 in total child payments, cashed in on 60 years of subsidized child care and universal pre-K, and would have enjoyed at least five years of paid family and medical leave. And we’d be eyeing up to 22 years of “free” community college for our kids.
So why do we oppose this federal largess? Because we don’t like politicians dangling dollars at families to get them to manage their affairs the way the politicians would prefer. Instead of “nudging” families into needless dependency, we’d rather lawmakers encourage families to pursue opportunities and make decisions that are best for their unique situations.
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