Trade union FNV wants the government to set aside €150 million to compensate some 4,800 people, mostly care workers, who may lose their jobs because of the effects of Long Covid, or who have lost income because they can only work short periods.

The FNV, which started a register  for care workers who are suffering the consequences of Long Covid six months ago, is presenting its report to MPs on Tuesday, ahead of a debate in parliament about the new coronavirus strategy later this week.

In total some 4,200 care workers contacted the union, of whom around 1,000 have lost their jobs or are about to lose them because they have been ill for longer than two years. A quarter had to reduce the number of hours because of health problems.

The FNV wants the government to establish a €150 million Long Covid fund to compensate workers for loss of income and extra care costs.

Three quarters of people with Long Covid who were working in care homes and hospitals think they picked up the virus at work, FNV deputy chairwoman Kitty Jong said. This would make it a work-related illness comparable to asbestos-related health problems with a similar compensation deal of €22,000 per person.

‘People working in care homes in particular were not getting the right protective clothing. That was reprehensible and meant thousands of people are now suffering. For politicians to shrug this off would be the real face mask scandal,’ she said.