Investec Life, which provides high-end life insurance to Investec’s private banking clients, says the growing risk of so-called “long Covid” to the broader industry could result in premiums for income protection, disability and severe illness cover being hiked, as more clients infected by Covid-19 begin to report long-term debilitating effects from the virus.
Post-acute sequelae of Covid-19, colloquially referred to as ‘long Covid’, are the effects of the virus that linger for weeks or months after the initial illness, which range from ongoing respiratory difficulty to chronic fatigue and cognitive impairment. Though no standard clinical definition of the syndrome exists, a recent study by Imperial College London showed that more than a third of people who have had Covid-19 experienced at least one ongoing symptom that lasted 12 weeks or more...