By Paul O’Malley
Over 8,000 people in Mayo may be suffering or have suffered from the long-term effects of Covid-19, according to research conducted on those experiencing Long Covid.
Long Covid is when people continue to experience the signs of Covid-19 and do not recover for several weeks or months following the start of their symptoms.
Long Covid is when people continue to experience the signs of Covid-19 and do not recover for several weeks or months following the start of their symptoms
The analysis, which was provided to Roscommon/Galway TD Denis Naughten, shows that 336,451 adults in Ireland are likely to be suffering from Long Covid. Of this total, 8,226 are from Mayo, 18,245 from Galway, 4,487 from Roscommon, 4,204 from Sligo and 2,075 from Leitrim.
The analysis is based on research published in the medical journal, , by a team of researchers who have attributed Long Covid symptoms to 12.7 percent of patients infected with Covid-19 and Health Protection Surveillance Centre research on blood donors which indicates that 69 percent of adults in Ireland have been infected by the virus.
“The Lancet paper has described Long Covid as ‘the next public health disaster in the making’, which clearly indicates that Government must now treat this illness and the patients with it as a matter of the utmost priority,” added Deputy Naughten.
“The reality is that such a large number of Long Covid patients presenting to our health service with complex health conditions will overwhelm our hospitals as we begin to plan for a winter of hospital overcrowding,” said the Independent TD.
“In addition, these services will be put under considerable pressure due to recurring waves of further Covid-19 illness.
“We cannot just sleepwalk into a crisis of chronic illness, which will push people waiting on treatments since before the pandemic even further down already horrendous waiting lists.
“We need to see this surge of Long Covid patients managed with a coordinated response from Government, which based on responses that I have received previously has not been forthcoming.”.
