How many people get long-COVID?

Immediately after a COVID infection, people can be very sick and in some people, hospitalisation and death can occur.

Even after recovering from a COVID infection, some people can have fatigue, breathlessness, muscle ache, brain fog and other symptoms which can persist for many months. This persistence of symptoms is known as long COVID.

Previously, it was feared that a high percentage of people may go on to develop long COVID. A previous estimate suggested that as many as 1 in 10 people may develop long COVID.

Now , an ONS survey suggests that far less people may develop longer COVID. It is mow estimated that 1 in 40 people may have long COVID after recovering from a COVID infection.

References

BBC news. Long Covid less common than feared – ONS study.

BMJ. Long covid clinics should be run as research hubs. BMJ 2021; 374 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n1996