This piece is an interesting insight in to the minds of the lemmings and an example of (Mass formation psychosis ) the power of subtle wordings and messaging ( Children passed it to me , Long Covid ) are cleverly used sub contexts . , which undoubtedly stays in a fearful , gullible or none suspecting persons conscious . Another concerning point of interest , is most main stream that reads this piece they will assume that long covid and the person's fog is caused by Covid . No mention of the possibility whatsoever of the jabs having some involvement and the article itself promotes a complete deflection of such a possibility , But than again , it is anything but the jabs !
‘I didn’t have the mental stamina to think’: Calls for long COVID-19 help
Hannah Wootton
Jul 22, 2022 – 5.12pm
Employers need to increase their understanding of long COVID-19 and support staff suffering it to get back to work, two professionals with the chronic illness have warned.
Julia van Graas, a 42-year-old business founder, predicted long COVID-19 was “a looming issue” for already overstretched workforces, while 39-year-old marketer Kellie Floyd said bosses “need to understand this is a serious illness”.
Their call comes as COVID-19 cases reported in Australia surge past 9 million, with the real number expected to be much higher. With estimates of the portion of COVID-19 cases which develop into long COVID varying from 5 to 20 per cent, that means that, even at the bottom end of that scale, it has hit at least 450,000 Australians.
Both Ms van Graas and Ms Floyd caught COVID-19 earlier in the school year from their kids – in February and March respectively – and are now among the nearly half million Australians thought to be suffering long COVID.
They were both fully vaccinated, fit and healthy before their virus infections, yet five-plus months on are still suffering brain fog, exhaustion and difficulty exercising.
Ms van Graas said businesses needed to consider how they supported staff suffering from long COVID-19 both in the short and long term, especially as people were often nervous about saying they needed time off.
‘Hard to ask for help’
“I work in a really safe, supportive team environment with my co-founders ... and even then, it felt hard for me to ask for help,” the co-founder of Leaders on Demand said.
“It’s more than just long COVID, it’s this narrative around rest and recovery. Long COVID is going to be a chronic illness and disability and that needs to be encompassed in diversity and inclusion policies …
“Even now, what sorts of accommodations are happening and what conversations are under way in workplaces?”
Ms van Graas was hospitalised twice when she first got COVID-19 because of breathing difficulties and since then has been on medication prescribed by a neurologist for “debilitating headaches” and migraines, as well as steroid inhalers for ongoing breathing issues.
She said that “people keep talking about talent wars” but that managers grappling with skills shortages also needed to factor in how to reduce the workloads of those suffering from long COVID-19.
“Teams are just stretched, so there’s this big focus on productivity and surge capacity of teams is already at its limit, and now we’ve got this issue of long COVID that’s looming ... there’s a real question for leaders there.”
Brain fog
Ms Floyd was bedridden for four weeks “without the mental stamina to think” when she first got COVID-19 and then, when she went back to work as a marketing specialist at consultancy Cube Group, was hit with the long COVID-19 brain fog.
She frequently types words she is not thinking of – instead of “black-and-white photo”, for example, she may write “black and tree photo”, she told AFR Weekend – and often cannot remember conversations. Formerly a runner and regular gym-goer, she can just about walk her dog five kilometres even five months after her initial infection.
But she worried that as the world started “living with COVID”, employers were often viewing the virus as “just a cold” and failing to support those with its chronic version.
“It’s not always just that you only need two days off when you have COVID then you can work [from home], or even some organisations are making people work through,” she said.
“[Employers] need to understand this is a serious illness [and] that no one wants COVID, let alone long COVID.”
While Ms Floyd said she was “incredibly lucky” that her workplace has supported her throughout her recovery, she wanted its response “to be the norm”.
She said her own managers educated themselves on long COVID, rather than just COVID-19, to better understand her symptoms and take away any stigma.
She was also not pressured to return to the office, spread her hours over more days, and communicated largely by text rather than calls.
She recommends businesses that do want staff to work in person consider where those with long COVID-19 are stationed, as activities such as climbing stairs may be difficult.
Hannah Wootton
Jul 22, 2022 – 5.12pm
Employers need to increase their understanding of long COVID-19 and support staff suffering it to get back to work, two professionals with the chronic illness have warned.
Julia van Graas, a 42-year-old business founder, predicted long COVID-19 was “a looming issue” for already overstretched workforces, while 39-year-old marketer Kellie Floyd said bosses “need to understand this is a serious illness”.
Their call comes as COVID-19 cases reported in Australia surge past 9 million, with the real number expected to be much higher. With estimates of the portion of COVID-19 cases which develop into long COVID varying from 5 to 20 per cent, that means that, even at the bottom end of that scale, it has hit at least 450,000 Australians.
Both Ms van Graas and Ms Floyd caught COVID-19 earlier in the school year from their kids – in February and March respectively – and are now among the nearly half million Australians thought to be suffering long COVID.
They were both fully vaccinated, fit and healthy before their virus infections, yet five-plus months on are still suffering brain fog, exhaustion and difficulty exercising.
Ms van Graas said businesses needed to consider how they supported staff suffering from long COVID-19 both in the short and long term, especially as people were often nervous about saying they needed time off.
‘Hard to ask for help’
“I work in a really safe, supportive team environment with my co-founders ... and even then, it felt hard for me to ask for help,” the co-founder of Leaders on Demand said.
“It’s more than just long COVID, it’s this narrative around rest and recovery. Long COVID is going to be a chronic illness and disability and that needs to be encompassed in diversity and inclusion policies …
“Even now, what sorts of accommodations are happening and what conversations are under way in workplaces?”
Ms van Graas was hospitalised twice when she first got COVID-19 because of breathing difficulties and since then has been on medication prescribed by a neurologist for “debilitating headaches” and migraines, as well as steroid inhalers for ongoing breathing issues.
She said that “people keep talking about talent wars” but that managers grappling with skills shortages also needed to factor in how to reduce the workloads of those suffering from long COVID-19.
“Teams are just stretched, so there’s this big focus on productivity and surge capacity of teams is already at its limit, and now we’ve got this issue of long COVID that’s looming ... there’s a real question for leaders there.”
Brain fog
Ms Floyd was bedridden for four weeks “without the mental stamina to think” when she first got COVID-19 and then, when she went back to work as a marketing specialist at consultancy Cube Group, was hit with the long COVID-19 brain fog.
She frequently types words she is not thinking of – instead of “black-and-white photo”, for example, she may write “black and tree photo”, she told AFR Weekend – and often cannot remember conversations. Formerly a runner and regular gym-goer, she can just about walk her dog five kilometres even five months after her initial infection.
But she worried that as the world started “living with COVID”, employers were often viewing the virus as “just a cold” and failing to support those with its chronic version.
“It’s not always just that you only need two days off when you have COVID then you can work [from home], or even some organisations are making people work through,” she said.
“[Employers] need to understand this is a serious illness [and] that no one wants COVID, let alone long COVID.”
While Ms Floyd said she was “incredibly lucky” that her workplace has supported her throughout her recovery, she wanted its response “to be the norm”.
She said her own managers educated themselves on long COVID, rather than just COVID-19, to better understand her symptoms and take away any stigma.
She was also not pressured to return to the office, spread her hours over more days, and communicated largely by text rather than calls.
She recommends businesses that do want staff to work in person consider where those with long COVID-19 are stationed, as activities such as climbing stairs may be difficult.
This piece is an interesting insight in to the minds of the...
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