MORE than 14,000 working days have been missed by council staff over the last year due to Covid, at a cost of more than £200,000.

Figures obtained by the Guardian under the Freedom of Information (FOI) act revealed the full impact of both Covid and long Covid at Cheshire West and Chester, with some staff absent from work for more than eight-and-a-half months.

The FOI revealed that at the council – which has the equivalent of 2,610 full-time staff – there were a total of 14,184 days lost due to Covid between October 2020 and September 2021, the total cost of which to the authority was £200,564.

At the time the FOI was submitted in February, there were 15 staff absent from the authority with Covid, and 18 absent due to long Covid – which the council defines as having been off for more than 21 days.

According to the figures, the average length of absence for someone with long Covid was 50 days, with the longest absence being 259 days.

The council said the figures relate to confirmed Covid absences only, and that it did not include self-isolation either with or without symptoms, and that it did not include people who have had to quarantine as a result of foreign travel or hospital procedures.

A council spokeswoman, said: “Throughout the pandemic there has been clear Government guidance to minimise the spread of Covid-19 which has included working from home where possible, regular testing and the need to self-isolate when an individual either has symptoms or tests positive for the virus.

“We have had a significant number of colleagues able to work from home and continue working whilst having Covid-19, the varying effects of Covid-19 have meant that some colleagues were unable to work in any capacity whilst experiencing the symptoms and effects of Covid-19.

“Throughout the pandemic and to date, our council services haven’t been adversely affected by Covid absence and have continued to run successfully."

She said that going forward, the council's approach to flexible working would be a major part of its approach to support staff and customers.

She added: “This has allowed us to build upon the good practice and lessons learned during the pandemic, enabling staff to work in a more flexible way which facilitates responsive and innovative service delivery.

“This new way of working, alongside our robust wellbeing package, will support absence overall.”