AQW 20336/17-22

Ms Claire Sugden
Independent
East Londonderry

Tabled Date: 14/06/2021
Answered On Date: 21/06/2021
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Health to detail (i) the method of diagnosis used to confirm cases of long COVID; and (ii) the number of people who have been diagnosed with the condition.

Answer:

The rapid guideline from NICE on ‘management of the long-term effects of COVID-19’ defines post-COVID-19 syndrome as:

Signs and symptoms that develop during or after an infection consistent with COVID-19, continue for more than 12 weeks and are not explained by an alternative diagnosis.

It usually presents with clusters of symptoms, often overlapping, which can fluctuate and change over time and can affect any system in the body. Post-COVID-19 syndrome may be considered before 12 weeks while the possibility of an alternative underlying disease is also being assessed.

Although the recording of data on the condition continues in Northern Ireland, there will be insufficient data to conduct analysis for a number of months. In the interim, the available evidence and research on prevalence at the UK level continues to be monitored.

A recent publication by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated that 1 million people in private households in the UK reported experiencing long COVID. This relates to self-reported long COVID, rather than clinically diagnosed ongoing symptomatic COVID-19 or post-COVID-19 syndrome. Of those people 21,000 were from Northern Ireland.