2million Brits claim they have long Covid, official survey finds

Record 2MILLION Brits are estimated to have Long Covid, official survey finds

  • One in 32 people say they still have symptoms at least four weeks after infection 
  • Figure was up 10% on the nearly 1.8million who had condition the month before 
  • Estimates based on a survey of 363,000 people who self-reported the condition

Nearly 2million Britons claim they are fighting the effects of long Covid weeks or months after first contracting the virus, official data showed today.

An Office for National Statistics (ONS) survey found one in 32 people in the UK said they were still experiencing symptoms at least four weeks after infection as of May 1.

The figure was up 10 per cent on the nearly 1.8million who self-reported the condition in the month up to April 3.

The estimates are based on a survey of around 363,000 people who self-reported suffering with long Covid, meaning they were not necessarily diagnosed. 

Experts have previously cast doubt over the ONS’s long Covid findings, with some saying they are likely to be an overestimation given symptoms like headaches and fatigue can be linked to a variety of conditions. 

Fatigue was the most common symptom, with 55 per cent claiming they were suffering with tiredness. 

A third said they were short of breath and more than a fifth had continued coughs and muscle aches.

Statisticians also estimated 826,000 were still suffering a year after catching the virus — the highest figure on record. 

An Office for National Statistics (ONS) survey found 2million in the UK said they were still experiencing symptoms at least four weeks after infection as of May 1. The figure was up 10 per cent on the nearly 1.8million who self-reported the condition in the month up to April 3

Symptoms ranged from fatigue to loss of smell and taste, as well as shortness of breath

Around 1.4million people said they were still experiencing symptoms three months after they were infected.

The figure was up 8 per cent on the 1.3million in the group on April 3. 

Nearly a third (31 per cent) said they were first infected between March and November 2020 before the Alpha variant became dominant.

A quarter said they got the virus during the period when the Delta variant took hold from April to November last year.

And 24 per cent said they first caught Covid during the Omicron wave that began in December last year.

Around 1.2million said long Covid was badly affecting their day-to-day activities, while 346,000 said their lives were ‘limited a lot’. 

The condition was most reported in people aged 35 to 49 and women.

Long Covid is defined as having lingering symptoms of the virus for more than a month after infection. 

It is a poorly understood condition with sufferers normally reporting extreme tiredness, breathing difficulties, a loss of smell, and problems concentrating. 

But it has been linked to an array of other symptoms like joint pain, nausea, insomnia and depression.

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