Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of recognising long covid as (a) an occupational disease and (b) a disability under the Equality Act 2010.

The Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (IIAC), who advise the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions regarding Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB), are investigating whether long-COVID can be prescribed as an occupational disease for the purposes of IIDB.

The Equality Act 2010 ensures that any person with a condition, including progressive and life-threatening conditions that meet the definition of a disability (i.e. a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-today activities”) is protected. The Act defines “long-term” as having lasted, or likely to last for at least 12 months, or likely to last for the rest of the life of the person. “Substantial” is defined as more than minor or trivial.

For the purposes of the Act, an impairment is the effect of any physical or mental condition that results in loss of function or in abnormality. The Act makes clear that it is not necessary for the cause of the impairment to be established, nor does the impairment have to be the result of an illness. A disability can therefore arise from a wide range of impairments. This means that any person that falls within this definition will already be protected as having a disability.

Therefore, the existing definition of disability in the Act is capable of encompassing some of the emerging effects of long Covid but every case will be different and should be considered on its merits.

As a general approach the government avoids listing specific conditions as disabilities in the Act because the Act’s approach ensures that qualifying cases are already covered. Long Covid is still a new condition which means that it is too early to understand it fully. The government will of course be keeping the issue under review, in the light of medical and other developments.