‘Living Nightmare’: Long COVID Upends Lives and Finances 

A nurse prepares a booster dose of the AstraZeneca coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine, during a mass vaccination for people over 60 years old, in Mexico City, Mexico, January 4, 2022. (Reuters)
A nurse prepares a booster dose of the AstraZeneca coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine, during a mass vaccination for people over 60 years old, in Mexico City, Mexico, January 4, 2022. (Reuters)
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‘Living Nightmare’: Long COVID Upends Lives and Finances 

A nurse prepares a booster dose of the AstraZeneca coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine, during a mass vaccination for people over 60 years old, in Mexico City, Mexico, January 4, 2022. (Reuters)
A nurse prepares a booster dose of the AstraZeneca coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine, during a mass vaccination for people over 60 years old, in Mexico City, Mexico, January 4, 2022. (Reuters)

As COVID-19 raged around the world five years ago, London community nurse Beverly Summers found herself on the frontline of the pandemic, caring for patients in their homes as hospitals rapidly ran out of beds.

Passionate about her job, she did back-to-back shifts for eight weeks, but then caught the virus herself.

She has not worked since.

Summers is among an estimated 2 million people in Britain – and possibly 230 million worldwide – living with long COVID. While some have mild symptoms and recover, others have had to quit work or cut their hours due to a deluge of debilitating conditions that have ravaged their health, lives and finances.

"I doubt I'll ever return to work, and that's devastating because I loved my job," Summers told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "I'm effectively homeless and in a totally precarious position financially."

Economists say long COVID is costing countries billions of dollars a year in lost productivity and increased health and social welfare spending.

"Governments don't appear to understand how serious this is," said Manuel Gomes, a health economist at University College London (UCL). "They've completely underestimated the impact long COVID has on people's ability to work."

One analysis of eight countries by the Economist media group suggested long COVID could have cut their GDP by between 0.5% and 2.3% last year.

Academics have described it as "a mass disabling event", but a dearth of robust data makes it hard to gauge the economic impact and estimates vary wildly.

Compounding the problem is the lack of an agreed global definition of long COVID.

Patients have reported more than 200 symptoms affecting every part of the body. They include cognitive dysfunction, debilitating fatigue, breathlessness, heart problems and joint pain. The causes are unknown and there is no cure.

NO HOME, NO SAVINGS

Long COVID remains hidden, partly because those worst impacted are so exhausted they cannot advocate for their needs. Unable to work or socialize, many are housebound and isolated.

"I've gone from being someone who never wanted to retire and had a full-on social life to living as a virtual recluse," said Summers, one of a dozen people with long COVID interviewed by the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Self-employed, Summers could not claim sickness leave and quickly exhausted her savings, shelling out thousands of pounds on tests and treatments.

A year after becoming sick in her mid-50s, she took the painful decision to rent out her home so she could generate a small income. Her medication alone costs about 200 pounds ($246) a month.

Summers has moved 16 times since becoming ill, compromising her recovery. She doubts she will ever live in her own home again, which is a source of grief.

At her sickest, Summers was in "unimaginable pain". Her head and lungs felt like they were on fire and one of her vertebrae shattered from inflammation in her chest.

She has had to learn to walk again and has crushing fatigue, respiratory and cardiac issues, joint pain and brain fog - a condition the American actor Matt McGorry recently described as a euphemism for brain damage when he spoke about his own long COVID.

Gregarious by nature, Summers used to love trips abroad, meals with friends, dancing and pilates. All that is gone.

"I live very frugally," she said. "My life is unrecognizable."

EXPERTISE LOST

Official estimates in Britain indicated 3.3% of the population was affected in early 2024 - with one in five people with long COVID reporting a severe impact on their daily life. It affects women more than men.

Health economists said it was astonishing so little attention was being paid to a condition that had removed so many people from the workforce.

Unlike other chronic diseases, long COVID often takes people out of work at the peak of their productivity.

"I know so many people in their 40s who aren't working because of long COVID. A lot of expertise will ultimately go to waste," said Anna, a doctor who was forced to quit work at 41.

Anna, who asked to use a pseudonym due to ongoing negotiations with her employer, estimated she would lose 2.5 million pounds in salary over her lifetime, and predicted her pension would be less than a third of what it would have been if she had been able to work until retirement.

The mother-of-two has spent 20,000 pounds on medication, private consultations, tests and treatments including oxygen therapy and physiotherapy.

Further expenses include a stair lift, wheelchair and wheelchair accessible van. Her mother-in-law helps with childcare, the school run, laundry and cooking.

One recent study suggested the unpaid care provided by family and friends could be worth 4.8 billion pounds a year.

HEALTH COSTS

Long COVID not only impacts the economy through lost work hours, but also because of the greater burden on health services.

Research is emerging that suggests the cost per patient could be comparable to some common chronic conditions, but experts said support for long COVID patients appeared to be fading.

"Long COVID is unlikely to go away any time soon," UCL's Gomes said. "Governments must prioritize funding for prevention, treatment and research to reduce the massive economic burden."

Most people interviewed said they had been forced to pay for private consultations, tests and therapies because of a lack of expertise in the National Health Service.

Many reported being disbelieved and their symptoms treated as psychosomatic.

"Some people don't seek medical help because there's so much gaslighting," said Pooja Mistry, 44, a doctor who has severe heart problems and damage to multiple organ systems.

"It's an invisible illness. It's decimated my whole body, but even as a doctor I've sometimes been made to feel like an imposter."

The mother-of-two, who used to be the main breadwinner in the family, is often bed-ridden and relies on a wheelchair.

Mistry described long COVID as "a living nightmare". But like many others, she has struggled to navigate Britain's complex social welfare system.

Ironically, she said she was not entitled to a key sickness benefit as she missed the application deadline because she was too ill.

"I think a lot of people are falling through the cracks," Mistry said.

Ondine Sherwood, co-founder of patient advocacy group Long Covid SOS, said many people were turned down for benefits and had to go to tribunals to fight for them.

A government spokesperson said benefits were provided to those who met the criteria, but did not address any of the concerns raised by people with long COVID.

Sherwood, who has given evidence to Britain's ongoing COVID inquiry, called for greater investment in long COVID research, improved multidisciplinary specialist healthcare and better access to financial support.

With Britain no longer testing for COVID, she also warned that many more people will develop long COVID symptoms, but may not get diagnosed.

"Long COVID is significantly impacting the economy - and we don't even know the full extent of it," Sherwood said.

"But the government is still burying its head in the sand."



Netanyahu’s Governing Coalition Is Fracturing. Here’s What It Means for Israel and Gaza

 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu walks in the Knesset, Israel's parliament, on the day of a vote over a possible expulsion of Ayman Odeh from parliament, in Jerusalem, July 14, 2025. (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu walks in the Knesset, Israel's parliament, on the day of a vote over a possible expulsion of Ayman Odeh from parliament, in Jerusalem, July 14, 2025. (Reuters)
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Netanyahu’s Governing Coalition Is Fracturing. Here’s What It Means for Israel and Gaza

 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu walks in the Knesset, Israel's parliament, on the day of a vote over a possible expulsion of Ayman Odeh from parliament, in Jerusalem, July 14, 2025. (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu walks in the Knesset, Israel's parliament, on the day of a vote over a possible expulsion of Ayman Odeh from parliament, in Jerusalem, July 14, 2025. (Reuters)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government suffered a serious blow on Tuesday when an ultra-Orthodox party announced it was bolting the coalition.

While this doesn’t immediately threaten Netanyahu’s rule, it could set in motion his government’s demise, although that could still be months away. It also could complicate efforts to halt the war in Gaza.

United Torah Judaism's two factions said they were leaving the government because of disagreements over a proposed law that would end broad exemptions for religious students from enlistment into the military.

Military service is compulsory for most Jewish Israelis, and the issue of exemptions has long divided the country. Those rifts have only widened since the start of the war in Gaza as demand for military manpower has grown and hundreds of soldiers have been killed.

The threat to the government “looks more serious than ever,” said Shuki Friedman, vice president of the Jewish People Policy Institute, a Jerusalem think tank.

Netanyahu is on trial for alleged corruption, and critics say he wants to hang on to power so that he can use his office as a bully pulpit to rally supporters and lash out against prosecutors and judges. That makes him all the more vulnerable to the whims of his coalition allies.

Here is a look at Netanyahu's political predicament and some potential scenarios:

The ultra-Orthodox are key partners

Netanyahu, Israel’s longest serving leader, has long relied on the ultra-Orthodox parties to prop up his governments.

Without UTJ, his coalition holds just 61 out of parliament’s 120 seats. That means Netanyahu will be more susceptible to pressure from other elements within his government, especially far-right parties who strongly oppose ending the war in Gaza.

The political shake up isn't likely to completely derail ceasefire talks, but it could complicate how flexible Netanyahu can be in his concessions to Hamas.

A second ultra-Orthodox party is also considering bolting the government over the draft issue. That would give Netanyahu a minority in parliament and make governing almost impossible.

The ultra-Orthodox military exemptions have divided Israel

A decades-old arrangement by Israel’s first prime minister granted hundreds of ultra-Orthodox men exemptions from compulsory Israeli service. Over the years, those exemptions ballooned into the thousands and created deep divisions in Israel.

The ultra-Orthodox say their men are serving the country by studying sacred Jewish texts and preserving centuries’ old tradition. They fear that mandatory enlistment will dilute adherents’ connection to the faith.

But most Jewish Israelis see the exemption as unfair, as well as the generous government stipends granted to many ultra-Orthodox men who study instead of work throughout adulthood. That bitterness has only worsened during nearly two years of war.

The politically powerful ultra-Orthodox parties have long had outsize influence in Israel’s fragmented political system and used that status to extract major concessions for their constituents.

But a court last year ruled Netanyahu’s government must enlist the ultra-Orthodox so long as there is no new law codifying the exemptions.

Netanyahu’s coalition has been trying to find a path forward on a new law. But his base is largely opposed to granting sweeping draft exemptions and a key lawmaker has stood in the way of giving the ultra-Orthodox a law they can get behind, prompting their exit.

The political shake up comes during Gaza ceasefire talks

The resignations don't take effect for 48 hours, so Netanyahu will likely spend the next two days seeking a compromise. But that won't be easy because the Supreme Court has said the old system of exemptions amounts to discrimination against the secular majority.

That does not mean the government will collapse.

Netanyahu's opponents cannot submit a motion to dissolve parliament until the end of the year because of procedural reasons. And with parliament's summer recess beginning later this month, the parties could use that time to find a compromise and return to the government.

Cabinet Minister Miki Zohar, from Netanyahu’s Likud party, said he was hopeful the religious party could be coaxed back to the coalition. “God willing, everything will be fine,” he said. A Likud spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Once the departures become official, Netanyahu will have a razor-thin majority. The far-right parties within it could threaten to leave the coalition, further weakening him, if he gives in to too many of Hamas' demands.

Hamas wants a permanent end to the war as part of any ceasefire deal. Netanyahu's hard-line partners are open to a temporary truce, but say the war cannot end until Hamas is destroyed.

If they or any other party leave the coalition, Netanyahu will have a minority government, and that will make it almost impossible to govern and likely lead to its collapse. But he could still find ways to approve a ceasefire deal, including with support from the political opposition.

Israel may be on the path toward early elections

Netanyahu could seek to shore up his coalition by appeasing the far-right and agreeing for now to just a partial, 60-day ceasefire with Hamas, promising his governing partners that he can still resume the war once it expires.

But Netanyahu is balancing those political constraints with pressure from the Trump administration, which is pressing Israel to wrap up the war.

Gayil Talshir, a political scientist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said she expects Netanyahu to work during those 60 days to shift the narrative away from the draft exemptions and the war in Gaza, toward something that could potentially give him an electoral boost – like an expansion of US-led normalization deals between Israel and Arab or Muslim countries.

Once the 60-day ceasefire is up, Netanyahu could bend to US pressure to end the war and bring home the remaining hostages in Gaza — a move most Israelis would support.

Elections are currently scheduled for October 2026. But if Netanyahu feels like he has improved his political standing, he may want to call elections before then.