Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to help (a) develop treatments for and (b) reduce the level of incidence of Long Covid; and what recent assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the adequacy of disability benefit (i) provision and (ii) eligibility for people with Long Covid.

The Government has invested more than £50 million in 22 research projects for Post COVID-19 Syndrome to improve understanding and treatment of the condition. We are also monitoring research being undertaken internationally. The National Institute for Health and Care Research welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including Post COVID-19 Syndrome.

The reduction of transmission will reduce the prevalence of Post COVID-19 Syndrome, through pharmaceutical interventions such as vaccines and identifying and isolating positive cases and providing advice to the public on how to protect themselves and others. No specific assessment has been made of the adequacy of disability benefit provision and eligibility for those experiencing the long term effects of COVID-19 infection.