Two million people may have had long Covid

More than two million people in England are thought to have had one or more coronavirus symptoms lasting at least 12 weeks, according to a government funded study.

The REACT-2 study is based on self-reported data from 508,707 adults aged 18 and above, carried out between September 2020 and February 2021. It found that approximately a fifth of those surveyed reported having had a coronavirus symptom previously, with over a third reporting persistent symptoms lasting at least 12 weeks. Around a tenth of those with symptoms said they lasted at least 12 weeks and were severe.

The findings suggest prevalence of persistent symptoms, or long Covid, increases with age, with a 3.5 per cent increase in likelihood in each decade of life. It shows long Covid is higher among women, people who are overweight or obese, who smoke, live in deprived areas, or had been admitted to hospital. Persistent symptoms were lower in people of Asian ethnicity.

Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said: “Long Covid can have a lasting and debilitating impact on the lives of those affected. Studies like this help us to rapidly build our understanding of the impact of the condition and we are using these findings and other new research to develop support and treatments. We are learning more about long COVID all the time and have made £50 million of research funding available to support innovative projects, with clinics established across the country to help improve the treatment available.”

To help people suffering the debilitating long-term effects of this virus, the NHS has opened over 80 long Covid assessment services across England and last week the NHS published a £100 million plan to expand support, including £30 million to help GPs improve diagnosis and care for patients with long Covid.

Paul Elliott, director of the REACT programme at Imperial, said: “Our findings do paint a concerning picture of the longer-term health consequences of Covid-19, which need to be accounted for in policy and planning. Long Covid is still poorly understood but we hope through our research that we can contribute to better identification and management of this condition, which our data and others’ suggest may ultimately affect millions of people in the UK alone.”