Over 2 million people in England may have had long Covid and experience one or more symptom lasting at least 12 weeks, a leading study has found.
The REACT-2 study, led by Imperial College London, found that more than a third of people who have had Covid-19 reported symptoms that lasted at least 12 weeks, with one in ten reporting severe symptoms which lasted that long.
“Our findings do paint a concerning picture of the longer-term health consequences of COVID-19, which need to be accounted for in policy and planning,” said Paul Elliott, director of the REACT programme.
The research comes as cases jumped by 40 per cent in a single day, with 16,135 infections reported on Wednesday, the highest daily figure since 6 February when 18,262 were recorded.
It was also confirmed that a potentially more transmissible variant has arrived in the UK, Public Health England identifying at least 41 cases of the so-called “Delta plus” strain of the virus.
While India has declared the mutation a variant of concern in India, PHE’s head of immunisation Dr Mary Ramsay said she was “not that convinced” that it has different symptoms from other strains.
