Report: As many as 4 million Americans are out of the workforce because of long COVID

A "now hiring" sign on a store's door.
(Image credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

New data shows that between two and four million working-age Americans have long COVID-19 symptoms that are so severe they cannot work, the Brookings Institution says in a report published this week.

The Brookings Institution studied data from the U.S. Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey, and found that roughly 16 million Americans between 18 and 65, which is considered working age, have long COVID symptoms. This means a person is still experiencing symptoms three or more months after contracting COVID-19.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.