The campaign and advocacy group Long Covid SOS are alarmed at the proposed further easing of Covid restrictions announced yesterday by the Prime Minister.
Their spokesperson said: “We have twice written to the government to urge them to take Long Covid into account when making policy decisions around protecting the population from Covid-19. There has now been substantial research to confirm without doubt that this virus leaves a significant proportion of the population with debilitating long term effects – and this includes people of all ages as well as children. Evidence is now starting to emerge showing how Long Covid is impacting the workforce – this is inevitable when 1.3 million people in the UK are living with this condition and many cannot return to their jobs. Sadly this figure is likely to grow significantly due to the very large number of people infected in the recent Omicron wave. Unfortunately, vaccination alone does not eliminate the risk of Long Covid; mild cases can lead to months if not years of ill health. Whilst we do acknowledge the importance of a long term economic recovery, we feel strongly that given the current level of infections this should not be at the expense of maintaining wider public health measures.
“If Covid is to be allowed to spread through the community in a completely uncontrolled way, with no precautionary measures in place, then we risk condemning hundreds of thousands more previously healthy and economically active people to a debilitating long term illness for which there are currently no effective treatments. This policy decision also fails to take into account those many clinically vulnerable people who will not be able to safely participate in society.”
