Report: Long COVID affecting 2 million people in Britain

A man receives a dose of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine at Babington Hospital in Belper on Dece 16, 2021 as the UK steps up the country's booster drive to fight a "tidal wave" of Omicron.  (OLI SCARFF / AFP)

LONDON / OTTAWA / MOSCOW – Long Covid is now estimated to affect 2 million people in Britain, and almost 145 million globally, the British newspaper The Guardian has reported.

It's a complicated diagnosis to receive and those affected have to cope with both the physical symptoms and the psychological strain of having an illness that is not yet well understood and does not have well-established treatments, said the report on Thursday.

The report said children are also among those affected by long Covid, unlike what was previously anticipated. Up to one in seven children and adolescents still have symptoms 15 weeks after infection — including unusual tiredness and headaches – while about one in 14 have five or more persistent symptoms, according to the report.

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Canada

Canada confirmed 20,002 new COVID-19 cases for the week ending Oct 8, the Public Health Agency of Canada said on Friday.

The number of total COVID-19 cases and deaths in Canada reached 4,293,273 and 45,689 respectively, according to the weekly update issued by the PHAC.

Russia

Russia has registered 14,736 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 21,278,816, the official monitoring and response center said Friday.

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The center said that the nationwide death toll increased by 99 to 388,709, while the number of recoveries grew by 27,520 to 20,559,274.