More sick leave due to Corona?

Florian Tiefenböck studied human medicine at the LMU Munich. In March 2014, he joined as a student and has supported the editorial team with medical articles ever since. After receiving his medical license and practical work in internal medicine at the University Hospital Augsburg, he has been a permanent member of the team since December 2019 and, among other things, ensures the medical quality of the tools.

More posts by Florian Tiefenböck All content is checked by medical journalists.

The number of days absent due to a slight respiratory illness doubled in March of this year compared to the previous year. At least that's what the German salaried health insurance company (DAK-Gesundheit) reports in a press release. A consequence of the corona crisis?

The national health insurance company with statutory health insurance evaluated the number and reasons for sick leave due to acute infections of the upper respiratory tract in March of the current year.

Twice as many sick leave as in 2019

Between March 16 and 22, the number of people who called in sick at work because of mild respiratory diseases such as coughs doubled compared to the previous year: While there were still a good 17,000 sick leave in 2019, 34 reported a year later 600 more than twice as many unable to work.

The short-term course this year also shows a clear dynamic. In the second week of March, according to health insurance analysis, 24 902 employees went on sick leave. A week later it was over 10,000 more, an increase of about 40 percent.

What are the reasons?

One can only speculate about the actual reasons for this development. The currently applicable special regulation could have a decisive influence. Recently, in times of the Corona crisis, employees have been able to call their doctor on sick leave - 14 days at a time.

After seven days by telephone were initially possible, the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV) and the umbrella association of statutory health insurance agreed on an expansion of the regulation about two weeks ago.

This should relieve medical practices and protect all those involved, doctors, helpers and patients from mutual infection with the new type of coronavirus.

The fear of going to the doctor

Before this regulation, you had to squeeze into an often overcrowded waiting room for the AU certificate - a daunting scenario for many. After all, you usually come across other sick people there, from whom you may still be infected with additional pathogens.

Now the person concerned is sitting comfortably at home and can pick up the phone. If, for many, a slight cough is not a reason to do the stress of a visit to the doctor, calling sick leave is now an easy matter.

Corona concern and consideration

As the coronavirus spreads, concerns about your own health are certainly growing. Many are probably sensitized to physical complaints and take them seriously. If the cough didn't bother you very much, it could now be perceived by some as a threat. Some, on the other hand, may get the yellow certificate out of fear of infection - without real signs of illness that a doctor could check on site.

The increasing number of sick notifications could also be taken into account: Instead of going to work sick and possibly infecting others with Sars-CoV-2, it is better to stay at home in Corona times. After all, not everyone works from a home office.

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