Fewer people than previously thought are believed to have long Covid, new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have suggested. However, many are still self-reporting ongoing symptoms from the virus.
An estimated one in 40 people have coronavirus symptoms lasting longer than three months, the latest data has shown. In April, the ONS suggested this figure was around one in 10.
The ONS study asked two groups of people – those who had tested positive for Covid-19 and those who had not – whether they experienced one or some of 12 common symptoms ranging from fever to loss of taste and smell.
Three per cent who tested positive for the virus and 0.5% had not received a positive test had at least one of the symptoms 12 weeks later.
Suspected long Covid was most prevalent in women, people aged 50 to 69, people with a pre-existing health condition, and those with signs of a “high viral load” at the time of infection.
The study also looked at the prevalence of self-reported long Covid. An estimated 11.7% of participants with Covid-19 described themselves as experiencing long Covid (rather than reporting one of the 12 common symptoms) 12 weeks after infection. Some 7.5% self-reported that they had long Covid that resulted in limitation to day-to-day activities.
Long Covid
How will long Covid affect the provision of occupational health services?
Could long Covid meet the definition of disability?
CPD: Long Covid – a catalyst for greater multidisciplinary working (webinar)
The ONS said: “The estimated percentage of participants with self-reported long Covid 12 weeks after infection (11.7%) is notably higher than that of participants with symptoms persisting for at least 12 weeks.”
Last month, a King’s College London study found that being fully vaccinated against Covid-19 cuts the risk of catching the virus and the likelihood that any infection will turn into long Covid.
For double-jabbed people, the likelihood of developing symptoms that last longer than four weeks is slashed by half, compared with non-vaccinated people.
Meanwhile, researchers from the University of Oxford and the University of Edinburgh have developed cumulative risk scores to calculate people’s risk of hospitalisation or death from Covid-19 following one or two vaccination doses. These scores take into account factors including age, sex, ethnic group and the background rate of Covid infections.
They found a particularly elevated risk for people who are immunosuppressed as a result of chemotherapy, a recent bone marrow or solid organ transplant, or HIV/AIDS; people with neurological disorders, including dementia and Parkinson’s; care home residents; and those with chronic disorders including Down’s Syndrome.
They used national linked datasets from general practice, national immunisation and coronavirus testing, death registry and hospital episode data, in order to analyse a sample of over 6.9 million vaccinated adults, of whom 5.2 million had both vaccine doses. This sample included 2,031 Covid-19 deaths and 1,929 Covid-19 related hospital admissions, of which 81 deaths and 71 admissions occurred 14 or more days after the second vaccine dose.
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
They have used this data to update the QCovid tool, which helps calculate Covid-19 risk.
Aziz Sheikh, professor of primary care research and development and director of the Usher Institute at the University of Edinburgh, said: “This enormous national study of over 5 million people vaccinated with two doses across the UK has found that a small minority of people remain at risk of Covid-19 hospitalisation and death. Our risk calculator helps to identify those who remain most at risk post-vaccination.”
