The number of people in the UK suffering symptoms associated with long Covid for more than a year has fallen slightly, according to official figures.
Latest Office for National Statistics data revealed that as of 4 June there were 807,000 (41%) people with symptoms for at least one year, down from 826,000 in early May.
The number of people suffering long Covid symptoms for at least 12 weeks remained unchanged at 1.4 million – as had the number of people suffering long Covid symptoms for more than four weeks (two million) over the same period.
Fatigue continued to be the most common symptom reported as part of individuals’ experience of long Covid (56% of those with self-reported long Covid), followed by shortness of breath (31%), loss of smell (22%), and muscle ache (21%).
Commenting on the figures, Steve Herbert, wellbeing & benefits director at Partners&, said it should not be assumed that all long Covid cases are from the working age population, nor should it be expected that all these cases are so severe to require absence from the workplace.
“For the reality is that long Covid can take many forms, ranging from the mild and merely inconvenient to those symptoms which are extreme and entirely debilitating,” Herbert said.
“That said, around 1.4 million of the headline two million sufferers admitted that long Covid adversely affected their day-to-day activities, with some 409,000 reporting that those activities were “limited a lot” by their symptoms.
“It therefore appears likely that many employers will encounter employee absence and/or reduced productivity as a result of long Covid in the months and years ahead.”
Dr Julie Denning, managing director and chartered health psychologist at Working To Wellbeing, a return-to-work rehabilitation specialist that works with long Covid patients, added: “This data has once again shown the prevalence of long Covid and given the current surge in Covid-19 infections, we can predict that long Covid cases will only go up in the coming months.
“It’s important to remember that people have been diagnosed with long Covid even if not hospitalised, so severity of Covid-19 infection is not necessarily related to whether or not someone experiences long Covid.
“Over the last two years, we have worked with hundreds of people referred to us with long Covid and have successfully supported three-quarters of these (75%) to remain in or return to work, helping them to improve their quality of life,” Denning continued. “While the number of people suffering from long Covid continues to increase month on month, our work provides hope for people that recovery and a return to functioning, including work, is possible.
“For us at Working To Wellbeing, we believe it is important that the voice of those suffering from long Covid must be heard and that support services and interventions are provided to help them to recover as much as possible.
“We must keep the dialogue continuing and not let other news stories drown out the voices of those in need.”