- here must be a physical or mental impairment 
- The disability lasts for longer than 12 months
- The disability causes a substantial impact on one's day-to-day activities 

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Long covid itself may not be a disability but given its potentially debilitating effects on people’s lives, it can be disabling. Long covid symptoms may also constitute disabilities because of loss of human function or because of a persistent impairment that undermines a person’s quality of life. 
An employment tribunal in the UK has for the first time ruled that a person’s long-COVID is a disability protected by the Equality Act 2010 in July 29th, 2022. 

Long COVID in United Kingdom

https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/global-hr/pages/uk-long-covid-19-disability.aspx

Long COVID-19 Ruled a Disability in the UK

The Equality Act and Long COVID-19

Long COVID has not been studied enough and people are not able to understand who with what symptoms can be defined as a patient with Long COVID disability. Clear clinical diagnostic criteria of COVID-19 can benefit patients with disabling sytmptoms in at least three ways:

Clear Diagnostic Criteria on COVID-19 

33281 laboratory-confirmed COVID infections were followed-up via 6, 12 and 18-month questionnaires and linkage to hospitalization and death records to find out relationships between long COVID and possible factors such as age, gender, and previous health issues. Previous symptomatic infection was associated with persistent symptoms and poorer quality of life. Vaccination was associated with a reduced risk of seven symptoms.

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