Long Covid: Mum warns about protecting children as family still suffering 10 months on
Watch report by ITV News Anglia's Hannah Pettifer
A family from Royston in Hertfordshire are warning others of the long term effects of Covid, 10 months after contracting the disease.
Susie Horwood is a specialist cancer nurse at Addenbrooke's hospital in Cambridge and got the virus in March.
Having heard that children are less likely to be affected she chose to not isolate away from them, something Susie says she now ‘bitterly regrets’.
Her three children then contracted coronavirus and are still experiencing ‘Long Covid’ to this day.
Once an active family, the long lasting effects of the disease are taking their toll.
Susie has been left unable to do the simplest of nursing tasks, and her nine-year-old daughter is scared of going outside as the cold air makes it hard for her to breathe.
The Horwood family are not alone. A group ‘Long Covid Kids’ has been set up to support children affected by the disease.
People have been sharing their stories whilst raising awareness of the symptoms children suffer.
What is 'Long Covid'?
Long Covid is only recently being recognised by the medical community.
At the start of the pandemic, Covid was seen as either something you recover from or you die from.
Now thousands are reporting severe fatigue, breathlessness, pains, memory loss and other symptoms months after they contracted the disease. It can affect anyone at any age, even if they do not have underlying health conditions.
Long Covid symptoms are not infectious.
Can you recover from it?
The World Health Organisation says some Covid patients around the world may develop medical complications that have lasting health effects.
Little is known about long Covid and how long it will take for people to recover from prolonged problems. However researchers are working to understand the full effects.