The number of people in the UK suffering symptoms associated with long Covid for more than a year has increased by 131,000, according to official data.
Office for National Statistics data covering the period to 31 January shows the number of people who had been suffering symptoms associated with long Covid for more than a year had reached 685,000, up from 554,000 as of 2 January 2022.
The data also showed the number of people suffering long Covid symptoms for at least 12 weeks had risen to 1.1m from 947,000 over the same period.
Overall, 1.5 million people had been suffering long Covid symptoms for more than four weeks, up from 1.3m in early January
Fatigue continued to be the most common symptom of long Covid, cited by 51% of those with self-reported long Covid, followed by shortness of breath (35%), loss of smell (34%), and loss of taste and difficulty concentrating (both 25%).
These symptoms adversely affected the day-to-day activities of 989,000 people (65% of those with self-reported long Covid), with 281,000 (18%) reporting that their ability to undertake their day-to-day activities had been “limited a lot”.
As a proportion of the population, prevalence of long Covid was greatest in people aged 35 to 49 years, women, people living in more deprived areas, those working in teaching and education, social care or healthcare as well as those with another activity-limiting health condition or disability.