Long Covid affects one in five people, new ONS figures suggest

Long covid: Around one in 10 are affected for 12 weeks or more. Credit: Unsplash

Around one in five people with coronavirus may go on to suffer long Covid, new data suggests.

For the first time, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published figures examining long Covid, finding that a fifth of people have symptoms for five weeks or more while around one in 10 are affected for 12 weeks or more.

Overall, around 186,000 people in private households in England in the week beginning November 22 were living with Covid-19 symptoms that had persisted for between five and 12 weeks, the ONS said.

When looking at symptoms among people five weeks after testing positive for Covid-19, the ONS estimated that 11.5% of respondents were still experiencing fatigue, 11.4% had a cough and 10.1% had a headache.

Some 8.2% were still experiencing a loss of taste while 7.9% still had a loss of smell.

All estimates are based on responses collected as part of the ONS Covid-19 infection survey, which tests thousands of people for coronavirus whether or not they have symptoms.

This data does not include people staying in hospitals, care homes or other institutions.

The ONS is also investigating Covid-19 complications by looking at GP records, hospital data, deaths and testing figures.

To date, it has analysed the healthcare records of patients in hospital with Covid-19 until the end of August.

It has compared their complication rate to the end of September with people in hospital but not with Covid-19.

The results suggest that patients in hospital with coronavirus have higher rates of metabolic, cardiovascular, kidney and liver disease compared to those without.

Higher rates of diabetes and cardiovascular disease were particularly notable, the ONS said.

It added: “While these results do not confirm the presence of a causal relationship between Covid-19 hospitalisation and subsequent adverse health events, they are suggestive of a statistical association that warrants further investigation.”

Severe fatigue is a common symptom of Long Covid.

A small study published in October from the National Institute for Health Research, which is largely funded by the Department of Health and Social Care, suggested that long Covid may in fact be four different syndromes.

These are permanent organ damage to the lungs and heart, post-intensive-care syndrome, post-viral fatigue syndrome and continuing Covid-19 symptoms.

ITV News Health Editor Emily Morgan on the debilitating symptoms many endure for weeks and months from prolonged Covid 19

What help is out there for sufferers?

The NHS launched a Covid-19 rehab service last month for people who have been suffering with the long-term effects of the virus.

The Your Covid Recovery Service initially launched online but it will become a face-to-face portal when safe to do so.