With COVID-19 testing limited, will WorkSafeBC cover long-haulers claims without a positive test?
Katy McLean contracted COVID-19 in September of 2020, and she has been living with symptoms ever since.
“I call myself a long hauler,” said McLean.
She now walks with a cane and is constantly exhausted. She refers to herself as house-bound.
“I was bed-bound for five months,” she said.
She says with Omicron infection rates in B.C. skyrocketing, she fears there are going to be others like her who are unable to work due to long-haul symptoms.
“What is the fall-out of that going to be?” asked McLean. “Is it going to be, with the numbers we have, like a mass disabling event?”
The Greater Victoria Teachers Association is now encouraging its members to file a claim with WorkSafeBC if they contract COVID-19 at work.
“Then it is (the workers compensation board) that is covering the days you have to be away from work, rather than you depleting your sick days,” said Winona Waldron, president of the Greater Victoria Teachers Association.
But with the B.C. Centre for Disease Control now saying if you have mild symptoms and are fully vaccinated, you don’t need to be tested, some workers face the prospect of being unable to prove they had the disease.
“It is going to pose an issue,” said Waldron. “That issue between can you get a test? Can you get in to see somebody to confirm your diagnosis?”
WorkSafeBC says it encourages anyone who believes they contracted COVID-19 in the workplace to file a claim.
It says, ideally, it wants to see proof of a positive test, but if one is not available, it will make a judgement with available evidence provided by the worker and the employer.
But what if you are one of the unlucky minority that becomes a COVID-19 long hauler, but wasn’t tested, and now need long-term benefits to survive?
B.C.’s top doctor says there is a way to determine, down the road, if you were exposed to the virus.
“So, it’s not a readily available test, but you can do serology and a few other things and we’re working out how to manage that,” said Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer.
“That’s a blood test,” said Dr. Brian Conway, medical director of the Vancouver Infectious Diseases Centre.
Conway says the test measures antibodies in the blood. If you were vaccinated, the test will detect spike proteins.
“If you develop other antibodies, then for sure you were exposed and infected,” said Conway.
WorkSafeBC says it is currently reviewing its application practice as it relates to the adjudication of COVID-19 claims. This is based on the current situation and most recent medial literature.
McLean says she doesn’t believe the province is prepared for what is possibly to come.
“You know you’re going to have people in every sector who are just out of commission for however long,” said McLean. “There needs to be some kind of plan in place when dealing with all of that.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Person engulfed in flames outside N.Y. courthouse where Trump trial underway, says CNN
A person was covered in flames outside the New York courthouse where former President Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial is underway, CNN reported on Friday.
Mandisa, Grammy award-winning 'American Idol' alum, dead at 47
Soulful gospel artist Mandisa, a Grammy-winning singer who got her start as a contestant on 'American Idol' in 2006, has died, according to a statement on her verified social media. She was 47.
Senators reject field trip to African Lion Safari amid elephant bill study
The Senate legal affairs committee has rejected a motion calling for members to take a $50,000 field trip to the African Lion Safari in southern Ontario to see the zoo's elephant exhibit.
CFIA monitoring for avian flu in Canadian dairy cattle after U.S. discoveries
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is encouraging veterinarians to keep an eye out for signs of avian influenza in dairy cattle following recent discoveries of cases of the disease in U.S. cow herds.
She set out to find a husband in a year. Then she matched with a guy on a dating app on the other side of the world
Scottish comedian Samantha Hannah was working on a comedy show about finding a husband when Toby Hunter came into her life. What happened next surprised them both.
DEVELOPING G7 warns of new sanctions against Iran as world reacts to apparent Israeli drone attack
Group of Seven foreign ministers warned of new sanctions against Iran on Friday for its drone and missile attack on Israel, and urged both sides to avoid an escalation of the conflict.
'It could be catastrophic': Woman says natural supplement contained hidden painkiller drug
A Manitoba woman thought she found a miracle natural supplement, but said a hidden ingredient wreaked havoc on her health.
After hearing thousands of last words, this hospital chaplain has advice for the living
Hospital chaplain J.S. Park opens up about death, grief and hearing thousands of last words, and shares his advice for the living.
Vancouver firefighter in rehab at home after losing leg to flesh-eating infection overseas
A family trip took a frightening turn for Christopher Won when he was diagnosed with flesh-eating disease while in Hong Kong and now, after weeks of treatment overseas, the Vancouver firefighter is back home recovering.