Long Covid lessons: beyond winter and the COVID pandemic

Abstract

Long Covid lessons: beyond winter and the COVID pandemic Paying attention to Long Covid lessons is key, states Amitava Banerjee, Professor of Clinical Data Science and Honorary Consultant Cardiologist at University College London, and chief investigator of the STIMULATE-ICP programme. The long-term consequences of COVID-19 have affected an estimated 1.9 million people with over 12 weeks of symptoms after infection with SARS-CoV-2 (COVID). Of these people, 1.2 million have had symptoms for at least one year and 594,000 for at least two years. Looking at the lessons which Long Covid has already provided for other long-term conditions and pandemics, Long Covid offers the opportunity for a system reset of research, practice and public health approaches to chronic diseases, pandemic preparedness and care delivery. Whether in terms of investigation strategies, ways of evaluating drugs, big data analyses using routine health records or methods to reduce inequalities, STIMULATE-ICP and other large-scale efforts to understand and better manage Long Covid can inform both science and care. Findings from Long Covid lessons may well have an application to the way we work in other disease areas.