About 2 million people in England and Scotland have suffered from Covid for a long time, figures show
Around 2 million people in England and Scotland say they are suffering from long-term Covid-19, figures show, with many reporting their symptoms have lasted two years or more.
The findings were released by the Office for National Statistics (US) and cover the period from November 2023 to March 2024, showing that of those who reported having long-term Covid, around 1.5 million people – around three-quarters – felt their daily activities were affected, while 381,000 people – around a fifth – said their ability to undertake such activities was “much limited”.
Of those who reported the date their long Covid symptoms started, 71.1% said it started at least a year earlier, 51.3% said it was at least two years ago and for 30.6% it was at least three years ago.
Prevalence was highest among people aged 45 to 64, women, people not working or looking for work, and people in the north west of England.
“Our results show that although the peak of the pandemic has passed, the virus is still having an impact,” said James Tucker, deputy director of the winter Covid infections survey at the ONS.
Dr. Simon Williams, a behavioral scientist and public health researcher at Swansea University, said the findings indicated an absolute public health crisis: “It may not be an acute crisis like we saw in 2020-2021 and the early peaks of pre- vaccination Covid. but it is more of an ongoing chronic crisis.
“Fortunately, thanks to vaccines, mortality rates and hospitalizations due to acute infections are and will remain low. But for a long time, Covid is unfortunately a problem that cannot be ignored.” He added: “If we were to imagine five years ago that a completely new disease, which for some could cause medium to long-term and potentially disabling symptoms in around 3% of the population, as the new figures suggest we would we are very concerned.”
Williams said the findings had significant implications not only for the daily health and quality of life of those suffering from a long bout of Covid-19, but also for the NHS and the economy as a whole.
“At the same time we are seeing high rates of occupational disease and economic activity – with poor health being a significant factor,” he said. “And so it is concerning that we have a disease that, to some extent, causes symptoms and functional impairment for two years or more after infection.
“We must continue to invest heavily in research to better understand and treat the long Covid-19 crisis, and to provide support to those who are suffering.”