Covid-19 shakes American healthcare. Almost three years after the start of the pandemic, 24 million Americans have been diagnosed with persistent Covid-19a disease that will generate sextra costs of $ 100,000 million in the country’s healthcare system over the next five years, according to the study The Gathering Storm: The Affordability Challenge of Endemic Covid-19, published by McKinsey
More than 80 percent of the 24 million Americans diagnosed with the disease have difficulty carrying out daily activities., according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Symptoms include shortness of breath, cognitive decline, and chronic fatigue, both mental and physical, among others.
Furthermore, it is estimated that nearly four million American workers are currently out of work due to persistent Covid-19, causing a $ 20 billion a year hole in the US health care systemwithout taking into account the mental and physical repercussions on the workers who care for patients suffering from this disease.
Four million American workers are unemployed due to persistent Covid-19
Persistent Covid-19 sufferers who have been rendered unable to work mean that even the United States dplacing axis of $ 170,000 million annuallya figure that could rise to 230,000 million dollars in the coming years, depending on future treatments or the effectiveness of vaccines.
The conversion of Covid-19 into an endemic disease
Another factor that poses a global health challenge is the conversion of Covid-19 into an endemic disease, due to the mutant nature of the virus and decreased immunity after vaccination or disease. According to the aforementioned report, the United States will have more than 100 million cases of Covid-19 every year in the next few years.
Addressing the pandemic at this rate would mean a additional cost of $ 220 billion over the next five years. The reasons? Patient hospitalization and medications, ongoing vaccination, possible future evolution of the disease or the patients themselves with persistent Covid-19.
Over the next few years, between 1% and 1.5% of all symptomatic patients will require hospitalization, which will mean more than 4,000 daily hospitalizations in the country. Likewise, between 10% and 15% of inpatients will require intensive care, which can translate into a hole in more than $ 120 billion in costs of treating the disease over the next five years.
