Long Covid
(asked on 3rd March 2025) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the effect of long Covid on the economy in each year from 2020 to 2024, including the effect with respect to those affected by long Covid of (1) their economic inactivity, (2) the diminution in their quality of life, (3) their lost income, (4) the cost of informal caregiving for them, and (5) their extra healthcare costs.
The most recent data from the Winter Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Study, a joint study carried out by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the UK Health Security Agency, shows that, for the period 6 February 2024 to 7 March 2024, an estimated 1.8 million people, or 3.3% of the population, in private households in England, self-reported experiencing long COVID symptoms more than four weeks after a COVID-19 infection. The following table shows a breakdown of duration:
Duration | Estimate |
4 to 11 weeks | 148,971 |
12 to 25 weeks | 105,946 |
26 to 38 weeks | 28,107 |
39 to 51 weeks | 57,164 |
52 to 77 weeks | 105,962 |
78 to 103 weeks | 116,876 |
104 to 155 weeks | 253,770 |
156 weeks and over | 365,922 |
No estimate has been made of the rate at which prevalence of long COVID is currently increasing or decreasing in England. The ONS does not regularly collect this data.
No estimate has been made of the effect of long COVID on the economy in each year from 2020 to 2024, including the effect with respect to those affected by long COVID of their economic inactivity, the diminution in their quality of life, their lost income, the cost of informal caregiving for them, and their extra healthcare costs.
The most recent data from the infection study shows that for those who self-report long COVID of any duration, in England and Scotland, who are aged between 16 and 64 years old and are not in education are less likely to be employed or self-employed compared with those who have not reported long COVID.
On 18 December 2020, NHS England had put in place 69 dedicated clinics across the country. As of 1 April 2024, there were over 90 adult post-COVID services across England along with an additional 10 children and young people’s hubs.