Statistics Seminar - Overview of ONS long COVID research

Speaker: Daniel Ayoubkhani/Matt Bosworth/Piotr Pawelek/Sasha King (from the ONS)

Abstract: Most people infected with SARS-CoV-2 feel better within a few days or weeks of symptom onset but, for some people, the symptoms and their impact on day-to-day functioning can persist for much longer. This syndrome, commonly known as long COVID, is an emerging phenomenon, and relatively little is known about its underlying pathophysiology. While a clinical case definition of long COVID exists in the UK, there is no universally agreed definition for research purposes, and heterogeneity in the design and quality of studies internationally had a led to a wide range of prevalence estimates. This talk will give an overview of the approach we’ve taken at the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to derive official, national estimates of the prevalence of long COVID.