Two million people in the UK are believed to have been living with Covid for a long time, according to data, the highest figure since official polls began.
Although Covid can cause a period of acute illness, some people continue to experience symptoms, such as shortness of breath, muscle aches, and fatigue, for months or even years, a condition that has long been labeled Covid. .
Studies have suggested that Covid may have a persistent impact, including through damage to organs such as the heart and lungs, while research has suggested that less than a third of patients with ongoing Covid symptoms after having been hospitalized with the disease feel fully recovered a year later.
Figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (ONS) show that as of 1 May this year, 2 million people were living in private households in the UK (or 3.1% of the population). ) reported that they were still suffering from symptoms of Covid more than four weeks after his death. first suspected coronavirus infection.
About two in five of those with long Covid, or 826,000 people, said the infection was at least a year ago, while one in five, or 376,000 people, said it was at least two years ago. In addition, 71% of people with long Covid said that their symptoms had a negative impact on their daily activities, and 20% said that their ability to perform these activities had been “very limited. “.
The latest figure is a 10% increase over the number of people with long Covid reported last month, and is almost double the number reported on May 2 last year, when just over 1 million people reported having Covid for a long time.
“As a proportion of the UK population, the prevalence of long self-reported Covid was highest in people aged 35 to 69, women, people living in more disadvantaged areas, people working in social care, teaching and education or health care, and those with another health condition or disability that limits activity, “the ONS added.
Professor Danny Altmann, an immunologist and longtime Covid expert at Imperial College London, described the latest figures as alarming.
“They let go of any vestige of hope that the long Covid would somehow be just a matter of the first waves, it would slow down in vaccination times or ‘milder’ variants, or it would just go out,” he said.
“We have now created a much larger cohort of chronically ill and disabled people than we had before, for example, within the entire national burden of rheumatoid arthritis, its health costs, the loss associated with quality of life and place This could not be further from “living with Covid. It does require some political, national and international discussions.”
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The figures also provoked criticism from the government of the all-party parliamentary group over coronavirus.
“For almost two years we have been warning the UK government about the scale and dangers of the long Covid crisis and its failure to address it properly will continue to devastate lives, damaging our economy and paralyzing public services, diminishing productivity and increasing labor shortages. ”said Layla Moran, president of the group.
“After reaching this sad milestone, the government can no longer bury its head in the sand. They must urgently classify long-term Covid as an occupational disease, provide formal guidance to employers and increase funding for research into treatments “.
The figures come as more data from the ONS, released on Wednesday, reveal that levels of Covid infection across the UK have continued to fall, with around 1 in 70 people in the community in England believed to have Covid the week ended May 27th. levels last seen before the launch of the Omicron variant.
However, Dr. David Strain of the University of Exeter School of Medicine suggested that the number of people staying with Covid for a long time will continue to grow.
“The increase in the number of Covid long cases is not surprising given the recent UK strategy of managing Covid only based on the risk of hospitalization and death. We have seen cases of Covid long due to the Omicron variant BA.2 be at least as high as the previous variants, while not causing the same hospitalization rate, ”he said.