Long Covid affects one in seven, new study suggests

ALMOST ONE in seven people who test positive for Covid-19 are still suffering symptoms three months later, according to new UK figures.

The largest study of its kind on long Covid from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), found people with coronavirus are significantly more likely than the general population to report ongoing issues, which can include muscle pain and fatigue.

Among a sample of more than 20,000 people who tested positive for Covid-19 between April last year and March this year, 13.7 per cent continued to experience symptoms for at least 12 weeks.

This was eight times higher than in a control group of people who are unlikely to have had Covid-19, the ONS said. Of those who tested positive, a fifth still had coronavirus symptoms five weeks after their test.

Women were more likely than men to report long Covid at the 12-week point – with 14.7 per cent doing so compared with 12.7 per cent of men. Prevalence of long Covid was also highest among those aged 25 to 34 than other age groups.

From a larger sample of people with and without Covid tests, the ONS estimated that 1.1 million people in private households in the UK experienced long Covid in the four weeks to March 6.

Of these an estimated 697,000 first had Covid-19 – or suspected they had Covid-19 – at least 12 weeks previously, while 70,000 first had the virus or suspected they had it at least one year ago.

Long Covid was estimated to be adversely affecting the day-today activities of 674,000 people. Of those self-reporting long Covid, those aged 35 to 69 were most affected, as were women, people living in the most deprived areas, those working in health or social care.