U of S medical researcher concerned about post-COVID condition in Sask.

A Saskatchewan medical researcher says post-COVID condition is a serious illness that must be taken seriously.

The condition, which can carry a wide varietyof symptoms like fatigue, difficulty concentrating, shortness of breath and chest pain, is fast becoming a reality for many people in the province.

Dr. Gary Groot, the director of surgical oncology at the University of Saskatchewan as well as a community health and epidemiology researcher, normally focuses his research on issues related to cancer.

However, he has recently turned his attention toward the treatment of post-COVID condition due to the seriousness of the situation.

"We need to do somethingto provide the care that these people will need, in spite of the fact that we don't fully understand this yet," Dr. Groot told CBC Radio's Saskatoon Morning.

"Personally, I have trust that the system will have something in place by the time this becomes a really more significant problem."

Groot said post-COVIDeffects can seriously disrupt people's lives. As an example, he was recently speaking to a student who had to step away from his studies for six months to deal with symptoms.

The student said he was only awake for about six hours a day.

Groot said post-COVID is very serious for some patients.

"They may not be able to manage their home the way they used to. They may notbe able to work for a period of time," he said.

"All of those impacts will be, I think, pretty enormous for our society overall."

It's still not clear how many people suffer from after-effects of COVID-19 anywhere from 10 per cent all the way up to 80 or 90 per cent.

Before the fourth wave hit, researchers were anticipating that 5,000 people with post-COVID will need special care by March of 2022, on top of 7,000 who will need additional health-care supports.

Groot believes that number will significantly increase when the fourth wave is included.

He said a lot of work needs to be done to prepare the medical system for post-COVID patients. Groot believes most of the burden will fall to family doctors, who need to be able to recognize and treat symptoms.

He also said patients also need more information and supports on how to best care for their symptoms.

He believes websites and information sheets need to be provided for patients staying at home. For people with chronic conditions, he said there needs to be more support closer to their own homes.

Groot said it isencouragingthatmost people's symptoms from post-COVID symptoms seem to diminish over time.

Still, he predicts the condition will have a major impact on society.

"There will be some direct costs from a health-care perspective in terms of the people that will be needing to see their physician," he said.

"But getting at the real impact for society would include all of those less tangible costs of not being able to work and having to have somebody provide support at home."