A record two million people in the UK are estimated to be suffering from long Covid, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Around 3.1% of the British population are suffering symptoms persisting for more than four weeks after catching Covid-19, according to new ONS estimates.
Some 376,000 people who first caught Covid-19 around the start of the pandemic have reported symptoms lasting at least two years.
Covid vaccine jab
Kirsty O'Connor
And 826,000 people have been experiencing symptoms for at least a year.
Around 1.4 million have had lingering symptoms at least three months after their initial infection.
The most common symptoms include fatigue, shortness of breath, cough and muscle ache.
One in five (20%) of those who have long Covid reported that their ability to undertake their day-to-day activities had been “limited a lot” by ongoing symptoms.
The ONS said that the rates of long Covid were highest among women, those aged 35 to 69 years, people living in more deprived areas, those working in social care, teaching and education or health care, and those with other health conditions or disabilities.
The figures are based on self-reported long Covid from a representative sample of people in private households in the four weeks to May 1 2022.