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April 11, 2022 - 6:00 AM
Even though hundreds, if not thousands, of Interior Health residents suffer long-term effects from COVID-19, there is no clinic to help them in the region.
The four clinics in B.C. include three in the Lower Mainland and one on Vancouver Island. Yet 17.6% of confirmed COVD cases in the province are in the Interior Health region.
“Health authorities fund their own clinics with their COVID-19 authorized funds and operate under the umbrella of the Post-COVID-19 Interdisciplinary Clinical Care Network,” states an emailed statement from the Ministry of Health to iNFOnews.ca.
Federal government research shows that 80% of people infected with COVID have lingering symptoms four weeks after being infected and 60% after 12 weeks. Ten per cent are unable to return to work.
As of April 1, in B.C., 5,288 people had been referred to its long COVID network after reporting “persistent symptoms for more than three months following a presumed or confirmed COVID-19 illness," the ministry statement says.
Of those referrals, 3,301 were deemed appropriate while 1,987 were rejected due to “timing/eligibility or staff being unable to contact the patient.”
A breakdown of referral numbers for Interior Health was not available by publication time but, since 17.6% of confirmed COVID cases were in the region, that translates into about 580 accepted referrals.
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Given that only a fraction of COVID cases are now reported, that could translate into thousands of Interior Health residents suffering from long COVID.
Not all those who are accepted need to go to a clinic, the ministry says, but 2,354 patients have had at least one clinic visit, and there have been 4,535 clinic visits in total.
Again, given the proportion of cases in the Interior Health region, that could mean that more than 400 residents suffering from long COVID had to travel to the Lower Mainland for treatment in a clinic.
In order to get a referral, someone suffering from long COVID needs to have a doctor or nurse practitioner fill out a specified form.
The list of long COVID symptoms is long. They can follow even mild cases of COVID.
The B.C. Centre for Disease Control lists breathlessness, brain fog, fatigue, hair loss, headaches, heart conditions, mental health issues, post-exertional malaise, ringing in the ears, and taste and smell changes.
It has a web page with a number of videos and other information about the symptoms and treatment options. It can be seen here.
The Government of Canada website says there have been reports of more than 100 symptoms.
The federal list of common symptoms includes fatigue, memory problems, sleep disturbances, shortness of breath, anxiety and depression, general pain and discomfort, difficulty thinking or concentrating and post traumatic stress disorder.
The Mayo Clinic list adds coughs, joint and chest pains, fast or pounding heartbeat and dizziness when standing.
Interior Health did not respond by publication time to questions from iNFOnews.ca as to why there is no long COVID clinic in the region or whether it has any plans to create one.
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