Long COVID is an on-going, worrying and costly illness affecting workers and the workplace even as some people question if it is real.

It’s real, according to two recent studies that dig deep in to COVID-19 data to try to discover the prevalence of Long COVID and the implications that follow when some people infected with COVID-19 lag in regaining their pre-infection health.

One study, by the Workers Compensation Research Institute, describes Long COVID as a significant driver of costs in several ways.

The study found that claims citing Long COVID had higher average medical payments, higher average indemnity payments, and higher average durations of temporary disability than COVID-19 claims without Long COVID.

Hospitalizations and ICU care contributed to soaring costs. The average medical costs were $50,000 for hospitalized workers with Long COVID and more than $150,000 for workers with ICU care.