An estimated 1.8 million people in the UK are currently experiencing long Covid, official figures have shown, leading to calls for employers to do more to support workers with symptoms.
The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) Covid-19 Infection Survey, showed that 2.8 per cent of the population outside of care homes are experiencing long Covid – the term used to describe Covid symptoms that persist for more than four weeks.
Of those experiencing long Covid, 67 per cent, the equivalent of 1.2 million people, said their symptoms were adversely affecting their ability to undertake day-to-day activities, including one in five (19 per cent, or 346,000 people) who said their day-to-day activities had been limited “a lot".
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The survey, which excludes care homes, was conducted over four weeks to 3 April and asked 362,771 people to self-report whether or not they were experiencing long Covid. The results were then extrapolated across the UK population.
Idris Arshad, people and inclusion partner at St Christopher's Hospice, said long Covid often exacerbated existing health problems, and made things “very tough for employees, both physically and mentally.”
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