Two million still struggling with Long Covid

Around two million people in England and Scotland were experiencing Long COVID symptoms at the time of the latest Office for National Statistics survey, with middle-aged people most likely to report this, particularly women.

The survey covers the period from November 2023 to March 2024. It finds Long Covid symptoms adversely affected the day-to-day activities of 1.5 million people, with 381,000 reporting that their ability to undertake their day-to-day activities had been “limited a lot”.

Of those who self-reported Long Covid and provided a date, 87.3% had experienced symptoms at least 12 weeks previously, 71.1% one year previously, 51.3% at least two years previously and 30.6% at least three years previously.

Those in the youngest (aged 3 to 17 years) and oldest (65 years and over) age groups were the least likely to test positive for COVID-19 during the study period. Participants in the oldest and youngest age groups who did test positive in the study period were also less likely to report symptoms consistent with “influenza-like illness” compared with those in the middle age groups. Those aged 45 to 54 were most likely to report Long Covid, with those aged 55 to 64 close behind. Women were more likely than men to report Long Covid and Long Covid sufferers were more likely not to be in employment or self-employment.

The most common symptom reported was weakness or tiredness (54.0%) followed by shortness of breath (43.7%), difficulty concentrating (39.4%) and muscle ache (36.7%).

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