COVID-19: LONG COVID SUFFERERS NOW OVER 1.5 MILLION IN UK

Long COVID cases rising per ONS

On 3 March, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published a report suggesting that at 31 January 2022 "An estimated 1.5 million people living in private households in the UK (2.4% of the population) were experiencing self-reported Long COVID."  That's "symptoms persisting for more than four weeks after the first suspected coronavirus (COVID-19) infection that were not explained by something else."  

Whilst there are several caveats about these figures, whether they are under-stated or over-stated, that is a monstrous figure.  Lives blighted, and employment often restricted.  Employers and the economy seriously affected.

That 1.5 million reflects infection from Delta or one of the earlier variants prevalent in 2020 and 2021.  The onset of Omicron in December 2021 will begin to be reflected in the imminent report for February, given at least a 4-week delay due to the definition of Long COVID.  Though the current wave of Omicron BA.2 won't affect figures until March and April that are reported a month after the end of each month.  In other words we won't know much about the long COVID affects of the Omicron variants in the UK until early May or June.

The same goes for experience of Omicron in other countries, given waves of infection at similar times.

In the meantime the British Medical Journal published this article on 18 March, suggesting:

• "...nothing is certain regarding Omicron and Long COVID, mainly because the variant roared on to the scene so suddenly in December that too little time has passed to detect a strong Omicron signal in the ongoing stream of Long COVID cases"
• "...most cases appear to stem from infections that did not require hospitalization, and they are starting to see Omicron-related cases and have little reason to think the variant will differ from earlier versions of the virus in its ability to generate Long COVID."
• Concluding "Because there are so many people infected with Omicron, we expect those cases, unfortunately, will lead to more cases of Long COVID with more suffering and more economic costs."

In other words, we might expect to see ONS reporting far higher numbers than 1.5 million in the next couple of months.  Let's hope not, but looks likely.

 

RAISING THE ISSUE IN PARLIAMENT

Today Layla Moran, who is the MP who chairs the APPG for Coronavirus, started a debate in Westminster titled "The impact of long COVID on the UK workforce".  The full transcript is available here and can also be watched here.  

The stories in the transcript are heart-breaking.  

But it is also the affect on businesses and other organisations ability to function with a reduced workforce, and the adverse affect that has on the economy and our daily lives.  Even when we ourselves are not affected by Long COVID, let alone those that are.

 

THESE HIGH NUMBERS OF LONG COVID SUFFERERS WEREN'T WITHOUT WARNING

Here's some tweets I published earlier today in response to Layla's excellent interview on BBC Radio.

These tweets show that I and many others were encouraging the Government to do more to suppress infection numbers from as early as the summer of 2020.  That it wasn't just about deaths and the pressure on hospitals, important as they are, but also the impact of Long COVID on individuals and society.  We couldn't take the risk.  Yet the Governments of the UK did.

(1) "Long Covid? My blog covered Long COVID repeatedly: https://covidcourier.blogspot.com When identified that Covid-19 produces long life-changing debilitation, should have been a key factor in Government policy. Not just deaths."

(2)  "One and a half million already. To which will likely be added a proportion of this latest wave, who have not been ill long enough yet. Diabolical consequences for individuals, the economy, and short-staffing."

(3) "My first blogpost focused on Long Covid was in August 2020, just 5 months after the first lockdown started: https://bit.ly/longcv19 The conclusion being "... infections. Preferably below 2 per day per hundred thousand" per day.

(4)  "That first blogpost focused on Long COVID affecting individuals. This was followed up in other posts, including last July after a set of ONS stats: https://bit.ly/cv19longcovidons "Does that mean removing ...mitigations ...?" Now?"  Now in March 2022?  What if Delta or further nasty variants make a comeback?

(5) "There's also societal consequences. This blogpost in April 2021: http://bit.ly/ons_longcovid "Not just the risk of death. As a nation, Long Covid has been an important reason to take action to reduce infection rates.""

Do you think the Governments of the UK countries did enough to reduce infection rates?