Legislative Council, Thursday 24 March 2022

Ms FORREST question to LEADER of the GOVERNMENT in the LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, Mrs HISCUTT

With regard to Tasmanians experiencing ongoing symptoms following a COVID-19 infection, suffering a condition known as ‘long COVID’:

1. Is there any information available to identify the percentage of patients who contract COVID-19 and develop symptoms of Long COVID;
a. If so, please provide estimates or actual figures available.

2. How many people have presented to public health facilities and out-patient clinics with symptoms of Long COVID since March 2020; and

3. Is there any information available to identify the number of people being treated for symptoms of Long COVID by their General Practitioners?

Answers:
1
• Long COVID is not yet fully understood, and the symptoms are highly variable and wide-ranging.
• Symptoms can range from mild to disabling with significant impacts on quality of life, even for patients whose acute source of illness was mild.
• It is not yet known how long symptoms of Long COVID will last, and there is no specific treatment for this condition.
• A recent population-based cohort study in NSW following 94% of confirmed cases between April and July 2020 found that 20% of the COVID-19 survivors still experienced symptoms within a month and around 5% at three months.
• Early this year it was estimated that 2.4% of people that test positive to COVID-19 in the UK experience long COVID – with the definition being that they experienced symptoms persisting for more than four weeks after their first COVID-19 infection which couldn’t be explained by something else.
• Current advice is that vaccinated individuals are less likely to experience long COVID and vaccinated individuals who get Long COVID typically experience symptoms that are less severe and last for a shorter period.
• The current view is that Long COVID associated with the Omicron variant is less severe than previous variants.
• Most people who develop long COVID will be managed by their general practitioner, and the Department of Health does not have access to General Practice data that might help to determine what proportion of people who contract COVID-19 will develop Long COVID.

2
• Defining Long COVID is still evolving nationally and internationally, particularly with the range of symptoms that people can experience, and the varying length of time that people may experience their symptoms.
• The Department of Health has been liaising with the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority to determine better ways to code various COVID-related conditions, which may in assist in monitoring how many people with Long COVID require hospitalisation.
• The national classification for outpatient activity is coded according to the Clinic Type – for example, the provider and setting (physiotherapy outpatient clinic), not the patient’s condition or diagnosis, so it is not possible to determine the number of people with Long COVID who have been treated in our outpatient clinics.
• The Department of Health is aware of the potential for Long COVID and will monitor its prevalence.

3
• Tasmanians with Long COVID are primarily managed by their GP who will escalate their care when appropriate.
• Primary Health Tasmania has developed a post COVID-19 condition health pathway to guide clinicians in assessing and managing patients with Long COVID.
• As previously identified, the Department of Health does not have access to General Practice data that might help to determine what number of people are being treated for symptoms of Long COVID by their General Practitioner.