In the UK, 2 million people have long-term Covid, about 3.1 percent of the population. The National Statistics Office shared that estimate on Wednesday. According to British media, this is the highest figure to date.
An analysis shows that 1.4 million of the 2 million people still had health problems at least twelve weeks after infection with the coronavirus. 826,000 people became infected for the first time at least a year ago, with almost half of this group being infected even longer than two years ago.
Common complaints are fatigue, shortness of breath, cough and muscle pain. Prolonged Covid harms the daily activities of 71 percent of people, according to the British statistics office. Among the 2 million, many are people aged 35 to 69, women, residents of deprived areas and people with certain health problems. It also concerns a relatively large number of staff from education and (social) care.
The agency is basing itself on the nearly 300,000 responses to a survey about the coronavirus, which was held last month among a representative group. Long-term Covid is referred to if symptoms persist for more than four weeks after an established or suspected corona infection. The cases reported by the statistical office are not all determined by doctors but are reported by the respondents themselves.
