I am on the Jeremy Vine show in BBC Radio 2 at 13.00 today. Usually this means I am discussing something to do with the economy. Today that\u2019s not the case. I will be discussing long Covid.<\/p>\n
I went into Radio 2 for the Autumn Statement three weeks ago. I have known Jeremy for more than a decade now and he was surprised I was wearing a medical grade mask. I explained my risk aversion, suggesting that as I already have long Covid I was very keen not to get another batch of Covid itself if I could avoid it.<\/p>\n
Jeremy and his producer were both interested and concerned and realised that long Covid was an issue they had not addressed on air and so asked me if I would mind sharing my experience with them.<\/p>\n
I am today completing my second batch of antibiotics since seeing them three weeks ago, and this episode has been worse than most, although now seems to be improving (thankfully). I am, of course, also aware that I am not as badly impacted as some, for whom it is is much more disabling.<\/p>\n
That word disabling is, however, appropriate. My body\u2019s inability to fight off a nasty sinusitis has left me operating at well below par for months now. I have been able to work, but not as much as I wanted. If I had been required to be at work for a fixed eight hour day I would, however, have found that very hard: most days I am still needing to take a rest to simply restore enough energy to keep going. Some employers would have little sympathy with that.<\/p>\n
There are real issues here about recognising this issue, the impact it has on individuals and that some of them will need support, and that fact that maybe a quarter of the estimated 2 million sufferers seem to have withdrawn from working.<\/p>\n
I do not pretend to be an expert. I do not have all the answers. But I do think there is a real issue here, so I agreed to talk about it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"