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birdwatchertheconversation.com -- Almost 200,000 New Zealanders are now living with long COVID – where is the government plan?
A high prevalence of long COVID is perhaps the starkest reminder that the pandemic is far from over.
Many people reported changes in health after COVID, but about one in 11 adults (401,000 people) described symptoms lasting three months or longer. These were health impacts they had not experienced prior to the COVID infection and could not be explained by a different diagnosis.
Women were more likely to report symptoms of long COVID – about 1 in 7 women (14.9%) compared to 1 in 12 men (8.5%). Only among people above the age of 65 were the rates similar in women and men.
One in six Māori adults (15.5%) reported having had long COVID symptoms, compared to one in nine non-Māori adults (11.3%), and among people living with disabilities, one in four (22.8%) experienced lasting symptoms.
Overall, 11.9% of adults who contracted COVID developed long COVID following the acute phase, and almost half (48.5%) of them were still experiencing symptoms at the time they completed the survey.
New Zealand must take long COVID seriously. Denial of these impacts and delays in providing appropriate care mean New Zealand is missing opportunities to limit harms to individuals and society.
A high prevalence of long COVID is perhaps the starkest reminder that the pandemic is far from over.
Many people reported changes in health after COVID, but about one in 11 adults (401,000 people) described symptoms lasting three months or longer. These were health impacts they had not experienced prior to the COVID infection and could not be explained by a different diagnosis.
Women were more likely to report symptoms of long COVID – about 1 in 7 women (14.9%) compared to 1 in 12 men (8.5%). Only among people above the age of 65 were the rates similar in women and men.
One in six Māori adults (15.5%) reported having had long COVID symptoms, compared to one in nine non-Māori adults (11.3%), and among people living with disabilities, one in four (22.8%) experienced lasting symptoms.
Overall, 11.9% of adults who contracted COVID developed long COVID following the acute phase, and almost half (48.5%) of them were still experiencing symptoms at the time they completed the survey.
New Zealand must take long COVID seriously. Denial of these impacts and delays in providing appropriate care mean New Zealand is missing opportunities to limit harms to individuals and society.