More than 150,000 people in Canada experience ‘long COVID’ symptoms, report estimates – CBC

Symptoms affect about 10 per cent of those infected and can last from weeks to months, says advisory group

Sep 15, 2021

More research is needed to understand the so-called “long COVID” condition and the burden it poses on the health-care system, a science advisory group said in a report Tuesday.

The Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, a group that provides guidance to the province on the pandemic, said the post-COVID-19 symptoms affect about 10 per cent of those infected and can last from weeks to months.

“There is under-recognition both for the public but also among clinicians of this condition because it is hard to define and quantify and because we don’t have a lot of information around it,” said Fahad Razak, the lead author of the report.

A conservative estimate suggests about 150,000 Canadians who contract the novel coronavirus experience long COVID-19 symptoms, Razak said. In Ontario, between 57,000 and 78,000 people are affected.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/long-covid-1.6176288