The Long COVID Expert Group was established in 2022 to assess the evidence on long COVID and apply it to the Aotearoa | New Zealand context, and to oversee clinical practice guidelines produced that year.
The Ministry of Health is now clarifying that the Long COVID Expert Group completed its work in 2022. The Long COVID Expert Group provided advice to the Ministry and the health sector.
Information about the Long COVID Expert Group was last week provided by the Ministry to the Minister of Health and the Minister of Finance. The information provided was effectively incorrect in that it did not specify this group had since been disestablished.
The Ministry says as a result, incorrect information subsequently ended up in the public domain which the Ministry of Health is now clarifying.
The expert group finished its work in 2022 and the Ministry of Health continues to actively review any new developments and provide information to the sector.
In December last year, the Ministry of Health internally reviewed the clinical practice advice overseen by the expert group and confirmed that the advice remains relevant and applicable in New Zealand.
The Ministry of Health has also funded a number of research projects focusing on long COVID.
The outcomes of these studies will be used to help inform responses to long COVID, and future pandemic preparedness.
The Ministry of Health has updated the information on long COVID on its website.
The Ministry of Health has apologised to both the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Health for what happened.
