What is Long Covid and what are the symptoms?

While 100,000 people with Covid-19 have died in the past year in the UK, many people have survived but some have contracted something called ‘Long Covid’.

Long Covid, also known as post-Covid-19 syndrome, has been formally recognised by medical figures as research continues to be carried out into the condition.

Here is what we know about Long Covid.

How long does it take to recover from coronavirus?

According to the NHS, the recovery time from coronavirus is different for everybody.

Many people feel better in a few days or weeks and most will make a full recovery within 12 weeks.

What is Long Covid?

Long Covid is used to describe the effects of coronavirus that continue for weeks or months beyond the initial illness.

People with long Covid often experience lingering symptoms that can make it difficult to work or function in everyday life.

The NHS states that the chances of having long-term symptoms do not seem to be linked to how ill you are when you first get coronavirus.

People who have had mild symptoms at first can still have long-term problems.

Medical figures accept that Long Covid is a legitimate illness, but are still learning about how to effectively treat it.

What are the symptoms of long Covid?

There are many symptoms of Long Covid.

According to NHS, there are lots of symptoms you can have after a coronavirus infection.

These common Long Covid symptoms include:

• extreme tiredness (fatigue)
• shortness of breath
• chest pain or tightness
• problems with memory and concentration ("brain fog")
• difficulty sleeping (insomnia)
• heart palpitations
• dizziness
• pins and needles
• joint pain
• depression and anxiety
• tinnitus, earaches
• feeling sick, diarrhea, stomach aches, loss of appetite
• a high temperature, cough, headaches, sore throat, changes to sense of smell or taste
• rashes

How long does it take to recover from Long Covid?

The British Heart Foundation states that there is currently no way to predict how long recovery from Long Covid will take.

It’s important to note that this isn’t unique to Covid-19 – other viral illnesses also have lasting effects.

Experience from other viruses suggests that most symptoms should go within three months, while tiredness may last up to six months. But that may not apply to everyone.

What is it like living with Long Covid?

Sammie Mcfarland (left) and Kitty (right) have both suffered from the long-term effects of 'long Covid'. Picture: Sammie Mcfarland

For some people with Long Covid, it can seem like a cycle of improving and then feeling worse again.

MPs recently heard from three parents from across the country at an all-party parliamentary group public hearing on children with long Covid - including Sammie Mcfarland, from Dorchester.

The hearing heard how children have sustained breathing problems, had broke out in rashes and that their feet ‘felt funny’ when walking after contracting Covid-19.

Mrs Mcfarland told the hearing, chaired by Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran, how she and her daughter, Kitty, have been ill with Covid-19 for more than 10 months after they contracted coronavirus in March 2020.

Her 15-year-old self-isolated in her room after she developed a ‘very mild cough’ and later had a mild temperature and felt 'very achey and tired’.

Mrs Mcfarland recalled Kitty made a recovery after two to three weeks, but noted that when they went for walks, she would complain of feeling tired and want to remain in bed.

She continued: “We didn’t really think too much of it at first. Then we did some gentle exercise in the garden as a family and we felt she needed some geeing up after being unwell.

Kitty, 15, was described as an active teenager before she caught coronavirus. Here she has written the symptoms of Long Covid

“It was during that gentle session that she started clinching her chest and complaining of heart pain.

“She went very pale and very floppy and almost didn’t make it back into the house to be able to get back into her bed. She then pretty much stayed there for the next seven months.”

Mrs Mcfarland observed her daughter was ‘very weak’ and fatigued and unable to hold her head up. When she left her bed, she had to use the walls or family members to support her to walk to the toilet, shower or walk around the house.

She noted that Kitty has ‘started to turn a corner’ in her recovery and found through private testing that she is missing certain key minerals and vitamins and is unable to properly absorb the foods she eats. Kitty’s eyesight has also suffered and she has a heart murmur.

Prior to the current lockdown, Kitty was able to spend two to three hours at school nearly every day and would take days off for health reasons to recover. She is currently interacting with school lessons via Zoom when she has the energy to do so.

Sammie and Kitty McFarland currently take vitamins every day to try and ease the symptoms of long Covid.

“We (including all family members) have not fully recovered, but we have seen some improvements”, she added.

Is there any treatment for Long Covid?

People suffering symptoms can offered specialist help at NHS clinics across England.

The assessment centres are taking referrals from GPs for people experiencing brain fog, anxiety, depression, breathlessness, fatigue and other debilitating symptoms.

NHS England has provided £10 million for the network of clinics, which started opening last month. There are now 69 operating across the country with hundreds of patients already getting help.

New research has shown one in five people with coronavirus develop longer term symptoms. Around 186,000 people suffer problems for up to 12 weeks, the Office for National Statistics found.

The new centres bring together doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and occupational therapists to offer both physical and psychological assessments and refer patients to the right treatment and rehabilitation services.

Ten sites are now operational in London, seven in the East of England, eight in the Midlands, South East and South West respectively, nine in the North West and a further 18 across the North East and Yorkshire.

A further 12 sites were previously announced to launch in January in the East Midlands, Lancashire, Cornwall and Isle of Wight.