The Toll of Long Covid in the UK Reaches Staggering Proportions
Estimates Reveal Nearly 1.7 Million Suffer with the Debilitating Chronic Condition
The number of people living with Long COVID in the UK has risen to 1.7 million, with almost 800 000 suffering with Long COVID for more than a year. Over a million said their daily lives have been negatively impacted by Long COVID, and for 20% daily activities were significantly limited by Long COVID, according to the British Office of National Statistics (ONS). 74 000 said they have struggled with Long COVID for two years or longer. Due to limitations in the way the data were collected, these numbers are likely an underestimate and the true number of people living with Long COVID is much higher. The chair of the British Parliamentary Group on Coronavirus has called for attention to the increasing incidence of Long COVID and warned that disability resulting from COVID-19 infections will aggravate workforce and business functioning.
Campaigns
1-SIGN! our petition to extend the TSA mask mandate on public transportation and on all flights after the current expiration deadline of May 2!
2-SIGN! this appeal for universal masking to CDC director Walensky led by MaskTogetherAmerica.org’s Julie Lam, this letter addresses the risks of the most vulnerable.
Guidance
Guidelines and resources for COVID-19 mitigation – (WHN + CAG)
Meet others safely via COVID Meetups! Now also in German and Italian – (WHN + CAG)
Resources
OMICRON / Variant / COVID Consequences
Even mild COVID-19 increases the risk of clots in blood vessels (venous thromboembolisms) (BMJ)
The immune response to Omicron is hampered due to characteristics of its spike protein (Nature)
Vaccines lower infectious viral load in breakthrough cases (Nature)
The CDC identifies Omicron reinfections after Delta as soon as 23 days apart, contrary to false assumptions of infection-acquired immunity (Forbes)
Endemicity of COVID-19 spells vast annual death toll and urges a strategy to substantially curb transmission (medaRxiv)
POLICY
Philadelphia to reinstate mask mandates after cases and hospitalizations rise (National Review / Yahoo news)
COVID is airborne. But why did WHO (and the CDC) take so long to say this was true? (Nature)
Support for those affected by COVID-19 means more than medical care and must include socioeconomic help: a perspective from Australia (MJA)
Why China’s dynamic zero-COVID approach must be sustained: China calls for continued commitment to its dynamic zero COVID to control the ongoing outbreaks (Xinhua)
Let’s clear the air: The White House launches its initiative on clean indoor air (The White House)
Congress approves $10 billion in additional funding for the U.S. coronavirus response but cuts global aid in the fight against COVID-19 (Washington Post)
ECONOMY
Airlines who dropped mask mandates are forced to cancel hundreds of flights due to COVID-19 among staff (CBS News)
As UK hospitals face staff and ambulance shortages, full emergency departments, and long waiting periods, healthcare workers urge the government to honestly address the status of the ongoing pandemic (BMJ)
China’s ongoing efforts to promote productivity amidst a lockdown in Shanghai, the world’s largest trading port hub (Xinhua)
Approximately 7% of adults in the US suffer with Long Covid, and the personal financial toll is massive (Yahoo! Finance, Solve Long Covid Initiative)
SCIENCE
Altered brain metabolism is a feature of neurological Long Covid (European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging)
Brain abnormalities and virus found in the brains of SARS-CoV-2 positive non-human primates (Nature)
Long Covid symptoms evolve and persist months after infection and cause significant disability and loss of function (Nature)
Post-mortem examination in COVID-19 patients reveals vascular and axonal damage in olfactory regions of the brain (JAMA)
In Community,
-The WHN