Persons disabled with covid-19 will need health care even after pandemic is over, public health expert says

Covid-19 disability will need to be managed even after pandemic is over, public health expert says Once the Covid-19 pandemic is over in the United States, the country will have a large number of people disabled from the virus who need help, Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, said Tuesday. By Ben Westcott and Kara Fox, CNN CNN

Once the Covid-19 pandemic is over in the United States, the country will have a large number of people disabled from the virus who need help, Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, said Tuesday. 

Speaking to a Senate committee hearing on Covid-19 response, Jha said he found it frustrating that the focus on mortality rates and push for herd immunity did not take into account the chronic effects of Covid-19 in some who were infected. 

“When our President declares the public health emergency over, we are going to find a large number of Americans with substantial disability from this virus, from this infection,” Jha said. “The cost of that, human and financial, is going to be long-term. And we’re going to have to manage that as a country.”