Record one in 50 Brits are suffering from long Covid

A record number of Brits have been suffering from long Covid since the beginning of January.

Official data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed today, February 3, that a record one in 50 Brits have been living with long Covid since the beginning of January.
ONS estimated that 1.33 million adults were suffering from symptoms on January 2, up by 5 per cent from the 1.26million with long Covid on December 6 – defined by the ONS as having symptoms for four or more weeks after infection.
The most common symptom was fatigue, affecting half of the people suffering.
The new estimate will only include the very early effects of the Omicron variant in December, as the condition takes time to develop.
There are concerns that the effects of long Covid could spike following record numbers of people catching the disease this winter, however, it is not yet known how the Omicron variant could impact long Covid.
It was also estimated that 554,000 people were still suffering la year after contracting the virus, this is the highest figure ever recorded.
The estimates are based on a survey carried out on 306,000 people who reported suffering from long Covid, however, they were not necessarily diagnosed with it.
Experts have cast doubt over the ONS’s findings on long Covid because symptoms such as fatigue and headaches could be linked to a variety of conditions.
As well as fatigue and headaches, people have reported loss of smell, shortness of breath, loss of taste, nausea, joint pain, depression and insomnia.

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