More than two million in England could have long Covid

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More than two million adults in England may have had long Covid, a study has suggested. The REACT-2 study, which involved collecting data from random samples of the population between September 2020 and February 2021, found that one in 20 people (around 6%) reported experiencing at least one of 29 symptoms of Covid-19 for 12 weeks or more. Almost one in five study participants reported they had had Covid-19, either suspected or confirmed by a PCR test. The researchers estimated that more than two million people in England may have also experienced persistent symptoms of Covid-19, if the study’s findings are representative of the population. Professor Paul Elliott, director of the REACT programme from Imperial College London’s School of Public Health, said: “Our findings do paint a concerning picture of the longer-term health consequences of Covid-19, which need to be accounted for in policy and planning. “Long Covid is still poorly understood but we hope through our research that we can contribute to better identification and management of this condition, which our data and others’ suggest may ultimately affect millions of people in the UK alone.” The study found that those who were at higher risk of long Covid included women, people who smoked, people who were overweight or obese, people who lived in deprived areas and those who had been admitted to hospital. Age was also linked with having persistent Covid-19 symptoms, wi