N.B. sees spike in COVID-related workers' compensation claims
CBC
The number of COVID-19-related workers' compensation claims in New Brunswick has increased 533 per cent since the beginning of the pandemic, and the number of accepted claims has jumped nearly 1,521 per cent.
The 2022 claims alone cost more than half a million dollars, including loss of earning and medical aid, while the province's three-year total exceeds $1.4 million, according to figures from WorkSafeNB.
But the nature of the claims, including how many of them involve long COVID or post COVID-19 condition, is unclear.
"If a COVID claim meets the criteria of test of time, place, and activity, it would be accepted and treated as any other claim under the Workers' Compensation Act," said spokesperson Beverly Stears.
"Once accepted, depending on the case, WorkSafeNB may provide wage-loss benefits, medical aid, and rehabilitation services."
Long COVID claims are not differentiated from COVID claims, she said.
There were 582 COVID-related workers' compensation claims filed in 2022, figures from the Crown corporation show.
That's up from the 92 claims filed in 2020 and 150 claims filed in 2021.
Of the 582 claims, 424 were accepted, plus one more that resulted in no lost time, said Stears. Nine are still pending.
By comparison, only 26 claims were accepted in 2020, and 92 in 2021.
It's an acceptance rate of nearly 73 per cent — up from 28 per cent in 2020 and 61 per cent in 2021.
Although Stears could not say how many claims involve long COVID, she did say the longest period of time a person received benefits for a COVID-related claim was 524 days in 2021.
The longest in 2022 was 212 days and in 2020, 208 days.
According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, people who continue to experience physical or psychological symptoms more than 12 weeks after getting COVID-19 have long COVID.