Long Covid on the decline for the first time

Depression
Depression

The number of people reporting long Covid symptoms has dropped for the first time in a year, with the milder omicron strain leaving fewer sufferers with long-term problems.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said 3 per cent of the population were still reporting symptoms more than four weeks after an infection in June, equating to 1.95 million, down from 3.1 per cent in May to 1.93 million.

It is the first fall since the huge surge in infections triggered by the omicron wave.

The number of people experiencing long Covid symptoms, such as muscle aches and fatigue for at least a year, has also fallen from 826,000 to 807,000.

Fatigue continued to be the most common symptom, reported by 56 per cent of people, followed by shortness of breath (31 per cent), loss of smell (22 per cent), and muscle ache (21 per cent).

A recent study by King’s College London found that omicron was half as likely as other variants to cause long Covid.

Researchers found that around 4.4 per cent of cases during the period when the omicron variant was prevalent reported long Covid, compared with 10.8 per cent of cases during the time of the delta variant.

Long Covid is defined by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) guidelines as having new or ongoing symptoms four weeks or more after the start of disease.

Symptoms can include fatigue, shortness of breath, loss of concentration and joint pain.

As well as affecting day-to-day activities, for some people the condition can be severely limiting.

However, there is currently no clear way of diagnosing the condition and the symptoms are often vague or common.

Last year, the ONS found that although five per cent of people reported at least one long Covid symptom 12 to 16 weeks after a coronavirus infection, around 3.4 per cent of people who had never had coronavirus also reported suffering similar symptoms.

Separate data from the ONS released on Thursday also showed that one in seven people asked to shield during the pandemic were still shielding, while 68 per cent were taking extra precautions.

However, the research also found that those offered preventative and antiviral drugs felt more comfortable with getting back to their lives.

Tim Gibbs, head of public services analysis team at ONS, said: “The majority of those asked to shield during the pandemic are still taking precautions, despite shielding guidance ending last year.

“It is encouraging that three-quarters of respondents who took the treatment offered felt it had a positive effect in reducing symptoms, hopefully offering a chance for those most at risk to the effects of COVID-19 to feel more comfortable socialising.”

Coronavirus cases are continuing to increase in England, rising 26 per cent in a week, although latest data show signs that the growth may be slowing.