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One in 10 people infected with the coronavirus experience symptoms that last for three months or longer, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said. A new analysis aimed at determining the extent of the “long Covid” problem among infected patients also found that one in five reported having symptoms that lasted for five weeks or longer. The ONS said it estimated that during the week ending on 28 November, there were about 186,000 people in England living with COVID-19 symptoms that had lasted between five and 12 weeks. This number could be as high as 221,000, the ONS warned. It said the data was experimental and based on the findings from its infection survey of households. Read full story Source: The Independent, 16 December 2020

There are serious concerns over the funding and staffing numbers available for new ‘long-covid’ clinics, while patient groups ‘remain in the dark’ over their locations. Last month, NHS England announced there would be 40 clinics around the country, to start opening at the end of November, with £10m of funding to cover set-up and operational costs until March 2021. But several speakers at HSJ’s inaugural virtual respiratory forum last week said there were still uncertainties and concerns about the capacity to provide the clinics. Dr Jon Bennet, a respiratory consultant and chair of the British Thoracic Society, said staffing the respiratory rehabilitation services within the clinics would be challenging, as “there isn’t at the moment sufficient capacity”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 29 November 2020

Up to £20 million is available for new research projects which aim to understand and address the longer-term physical and mental health effects of COVID-19 in non-hospitalised individuals. Increasing medical evidence and patient testimony has shown that some people who contract and survive COVID-19 may develop longer-lasting symptoms. Symptoms can range from breathlessness, chronic fatigue, ‘brain fog’, anxiety and stress and can last for months after initially falling ill. These ongoing problems, commonly termed ‘Long-COVID’, may be experienced by patients regardless of how severe their COVID-19 infection was and irrespective of whether they were hospitalised. UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) are launching a call to fund two or three ambitious and comprehensive proposals and a small number of study extensions that will address ‘Long-COVID’ in the community. This work will complement other major studies already funded by UKRI and NIHR which focus on long covid in hospitalised patients. Projects are expected to start early in the new year and may be funded for up to three years in the first instance. The call will open on 12 November and close on 9 December 2020. Further information

Young, low risk patients with ongoing symptoms of COVID-19 had signs of damage to multiple organs four months after initially being infected, a preprint study has suggested. Initial data from 201 patients suggest that almost 70% had impairments in one or more organs four months after their initial symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The results emerged as the NHS announced plans to establish a network of more than 40 long covid specialist clinics across England this month to help patients with long term symptoms of infection. The prospective Coverscan study examined the impact of long covid (persistent symptoms three months post infection) across multiple organs in low risk people who are relatively young and had no major underlying health problems. The research has not yet been peer reviewed and could not establish a causal link between organ impairment and infection. But the authors said the results had “implications not only for [the] burden of long covid but also public health approaches which have assumed low risk in young people with no comorbidities.” Read full story Source: BMJ, 17 November 2020

As more people suffer lasting symptoms from Covid including fatigue, ME patient advocates fear they will get bad advice, Based on current estimates, about 10% of COVID-19 patients develop lasting symptoms, one of the most common being fatigue. The underlying mechanism is still unclear, but possible explanations include reduced oxygen supply to tissues caused by heart or lung damage, or muscle weakness from prolonged bed rest. However, some doctors are increasingly concerned about the overlap between long Covid and another largely virus-triggered illness: “It’s extraordinary how many people have a postviral syndrome that’s very strikingly similar to myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME)/chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS),” said the US’s top public health official, Dr Anthony Fauci, in July. “They just don’t get back to normal energy or normal feeling of good health.” Like people with ME/CFS, many long-Covid patients report headaches, brain fog, sleep problems, a racing heart, joint and muscle pain and fatigue. Some also experience a relapse of fever, muscle pain and exhaustion, known as “post-exertional malaise”, if they exercise beyond their capabilities. “There are so many similarities between long Covid and ME/CFS it leads me to believe the underlying pathology is probably the same – except that long Covid is presenting as an epidemic, whereas ME/CFS has presented in a very sporadic way, and by no means in such large numbers in such a short space of time,” said Dr William Weir, a consultant in infectious diseases with a special interest in ME. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 19 November 2020

PRESS RELEASE (London, UK, 19 November 2020) – The charity Patient Safety Learning and the Royal College of GPs have published new guidance to help patients with post COVID-19 syndrome (also known as Long COVID) understand the support they can expect from their GP. This guidance draws on the RCGP's recent summary and top tips for GPs caring for patients with post COVID-19 syndrome. Both these documents have been produced in advance of more detailed national guidance being developed by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) and the Royal College of GPs, due to be published in December 2020. Helen Hughes, Chief Executive of Patient Safety Learning, said: “We have used the RCGP’s guidance to produce a simple patient-friendly guide to help support people living with Long COVID in the interim period before more detailed guidance is produced by NICE. We hope that this guidance will empower and inform patients, providing them with an evidence-based document that can be shared with those around them. We believe that this will also help raise awareness of the health challenges these patients are facing so that their health and recovery needs can be better met.” Professor Martin Marshall, Chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: “It’s important that patients experiencing debilitating prolonged effects of Covid-19, which we know affect a small but significant number of people who have had the virus, feel that they have the understanding and support of the GPs and other healthcare professionals delivering their care. To this end we hope this guidance is helpful for them. The RCGP is working hard to ensure that the long term effects of Covid-19 are recognised, especially in those who were never admitted to hospital, and that our GP members have interim guidance whilst waiting for formal national guidance, currently being developed by NICE, SIGN and the College, to be published.” Notes to editors: 1. The new Patient Safety Learning and RCGP guidance can be found here: Post COVID-19 syndrome: What support can patients expect from their GP? 2. Patient Safety Learning is a charity and independent voice for improving patient safety. We harness the knowledge, insights, enthusiasm and commitment of health and social care organisations, professionals and patients for system-wide change and the reduction of avoidable harm. We believe patient safety is not just another priority; it is a core purpose of health and social care. Patient safety should not be negotiable. 3. The RCGP guidance for GPs can be found here: RCGP, Management of the long term effects of COVID-19. The RCGP response and top tips for caring for our patients, V1 30 October 2020.

A key expansion of services for patients recovering from coronavirus has been delayed by several months, HSJ has learned. In July, NHS England hailed a “ground breaking” new service with the launch of a website with information for patients on how to recover from covid following hospital discharge. It promised a second phase of the service would allow patients to be connected with health professionals for more tailored support, to be launched “later this summer”. But in a memo sent to professional bodies on 30 October, NHSE said the national roll-out was delayed until at least January 2021, with no date confirmed for the launch beyond that. Documents on the website itself said a “first cohort of patients from Leicester will begin to work through the programme” in November, with a further rollout scheduled for early December, followed by a “refresh” in January 2021 and a “full national rollout accessible across the country” at an unspecified date beyond that. The second phase is seen as vital for ensuring that people with covid receive personalised support to help them recover from its debilitating effects, especially as a separate face-to-face rehabilitation programme was scrapped due to costs. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 16 November 2020

The NHS will launch a network of more than 40 ‘long COVID’ specialist clinics within weeks to help thousands of patients suffering debilitating effects of the virus months after being infected. The clinics, due to start opening at the end of November, will bring together doctors, nurses, therapist and other NHS staff to physical and psychological assessments of those experiencing enduring symptoms. NHS England has provided £10 million to fund the pioneering clinics, which will see patients who have been hospitalised, officially diagnosed after a test or reasonably believe they had COVID-19. Ten sites have been earmarked for the Midlands, seven in the North East, six in the East of England, South West and South East respectively, five in London and three in the North West. Patients will be able to access services through a GP referral or referral from other healthcare professional, allowing doctors an opportunity to rule out any other possible underlying causes for symptoms, such as suspected stroke, lung cancers or respiratory conditions. The NHS has also launched a new taskforce, with patients, charities, researchers and clinicians, to help manage the NHS approach to ‘long COVID’ and produce information and support materials for patients and healthcare professionals to develop a wider understanding of the condition. NHS Chief Executive Sir Simon Stevens said: “Long COVID is already having a very serious impact on many people’s lives and could well go on to affect hundreds of thousands. “That is why, while treating rising numbers of patients who are sick with the virus and many more who do not have it, the NHS is taking action to address those suffering ongoing health issues." “These pioneering ‘long COVID’ clinics will help address the very real problems being faced by patients today while the taskforce will help the NHS develop a greater understanding of the lasting effects of coronavirus.” Read full press release Source: NHS England, 15 November 2020

Young and previously healthy people with ongoing symptoms of COVID-19 are showing signs of damage to multiple organs four months after the initial infection, a study suggests. The findings are a step towards unpicking the physical underpinnings and developing treatments for some of the strange and extensive symptoms experienced by people with “long Covid”, which is thought to affect more than 60,000 people in the UK. Fatigue, brain fog, breathlessness and pain are among the most frequently reported effects. On Sunday, the NHS announced it would launch a network of more than 40 long Covid specialist clinics where doctors, nurses and therapists will assess patients’ physical and psychological symptoms. The Coverscan study aims to assess the long-term impact of COVID-19 on organ health in around 500 “low-risk” individuals – those who are relatively young and without any major underlying health complaints – with ongoing Covid symptoms, through a combination of MRI scans, blood tests, physical measurements and online questionnaires. Preliminary data from the first 200 patients to undergo screening suggests that almost 70% have impairments in one or more organs, including the heart, lungs, liver and pancreas, four months after their initial illness. “The good news is that the impairment is mild, but even with a conservative lens, there is some impairment, and in 25% of people it affects two or more organs,” said Amitava Banerjee, a cardiologist and associate professor of clinical data science at University College London. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 15 November 2020

Study finds 54 days after discharge, 69% of patients still had fatigue, and 53% were suffering from persistent breathlessness. Almost seven out of 10 patients hospitalised due to coronavirus still suffer from debilitating symptoms more than seven weeks after being discharged, according to a new study. Researchers from the University College London (UCL) division of medicine, in collaboration with with clinicians at the Royal Free London (RFL) and UCL, followed 384 patients who had tested positive and had been treated at Barnet Hospital, the Royal Free Hospital or UCLH. Collectively the average length of stay in hospital was 6.5 days. The team found that 54 days after discharge, 69% of patients were still experiencing fatigue, and 53% were suffering from persistent breathlessness. They also found that 34% still had a cough and 15% reported depression. In addition 38% of chest radiographs (X-rays) remained abnormal and 9% were getting worse. Dr Swapna Mandal, an honorary clinical associate professor at UCL division of medicine, said the data shows so-called long COVID is a real phenomenon and that further research is needed to understand how the symptoms of COVID-19 can be treated over an extended period. She said: "Patients whose COVID-19 illness is serious enough for them to require hospital care often continue to suffer significant symptoms for many weeks after their discharge." Read full story Source: Sky News, 11 November 2020

Every adult who has tested positive for COVID-19 in Scotland is to be invited to take part in a major new study into the effects of long Covid. Researchers hope to identify how many people in Scotland continue to be unwell after having the virus. The Covid in Scotland Study (CISS) will ask people what their symptoms are and how it affects their lives. Those taking part will be asked to use a phone app to answer questions about their health before and after Covid. Early estimates suggest as many as 6,000 people in Scotland were experiencing long term symptoms after the first wave of the pandemic but it is not known what that tally is now. Read full story Source: BBC News, 12 May 2021

On Christmas Day, Gail Jackson’s 16-year-old daughter said she was in so much pain she thought she would die. Liliana had been briefly admitted to hospital with Covid in September. Her symptoms never went away and, as time went on, new ones had emerged. “For months she had a relentless, agonising headache, nausea, tinnitus, fatigue and insomnia, but the worst thing was the agonising nerve pain,” said Jackson. “I couldn’t even touch her without her screaming in pain.” On Christmas morning, Jackson drove to hospital with her daughter vomiting from pain in the passenger seat. When they got to the hospital, however, the A&E doctor said there was no such thing as long Covid in children. “He said she just needed to go home and get on with her life,” Jackson said. “It was jaw-dropping.” It is extremely rare for children and young people to contract severe Covid, but recent research has shown that even mild or asymptomatic infection can lead to long Covid in children. A study at UCL is investigating long Covid in 11- to 17-year-olds who were not hospitalised with the disease. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended more research to produce guidance on how children and young people are affected and how they can be treated. However, there is no case definition of long Covid in children and young people in the way there is in adults. Read full story Source: The Independent, 3 May 2021

A nurse says the effects of "long Covid" mean she is "not the same person any more". Lynne Wakefield from Holyhead is still suffering with fatigue and "brain fog" after contracting Covid in June 2020. She said her employer had been "very good" supporting her, but other NHS staff told BBC Wales they felt pressurised to go back to work. The NHS Confederation said there was a package of support for staff affected by "longer term effects of Covid". A recent survey suggested about 56,000 people in Wales have symptoms of long Covid, which include fatigue, headaches and coughing. Other NHS workers with long Covid symptoms, who did not want to be named, told BBC Wales Live how they feel about the ways they are being treated by their employers: "I knew that returning to work would put my recovery at risk, but it was work or starve. On my return, I was informed that any further days absent in the next 12 months would result in a formal warning." "I'm so worried about losing my job as I've been off work for so long and I'm still nowhere near well enough to return." "If they say I have to come back or be dismissed, I'll have to do it, I'll have to try [and go back] and survive. I am so emotional at the moment, I can't stop crying - I feel I am going crazy." Read full story Source: BBC News, 28 April 2021

Millions of people worldwide are suffering from an array of symptoms months after contracting COVID-19. This article talks about the impact Long Covid is having on people's lives and how it strikes both young and old. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 24 April 2021

More than 80 new clinics to assess patients suffering with symptoms of Long Covid are to be opened by the NHS by the end of this month with an extra investment of £24m. NHS England chief executive Sir Simon Stevens said the health service must “continue to expand its offer for Long Covid” adding there will be even more funding earmarked for the problem in the future. Speaking at the Health Service Journal’s leadership congress on Wednesday, Sir Simon said: “We have 69 clinics identified last year and we will have 83 long Covid clinics in place by the end of this month, so a significant expansion there. “We will be backing that with at least £24 million revenue funding going into this New Year, up from the £10 million announced last year, and there will be more to come on the back of that as well.” Recent estimates by the Office for National Statistics found more than a million people could be experiencing long Covid beyond four weeks with 674,000 people saying it was affecting their day to day lives. Almost 200,000 people have said their ability to carry out normal activities has been severely limited by the condition. Read full story Source: The Independent, 14 April 2021

Lyth Hishmeh kept feeling ill months after contracting coronavirus a year ago in March. He had chest pain and couldn't concentrate. At 26 years old, the former regular runner was fatigued and breathless, struggling to function properly. Yet medical professionals kept telling him he simply could not still be ill. "They were telling me it's all in my head," he said. For Hishmeh who lives in London and many sufferers of long Covid, proving they are sick has become a big part of trying to get better. Another Londoner, Monique Jackson, has lost count of the number of times her pain was described as 'just anxiety.' The 32-year old illustrator was repeatedly told by medical professionals to go to the accidents and emergency, only to be discharged soon after. "I felt like I was wasting people's time, that people either didn't believe me ... or the ones who were sympathetic and supportive said 'we don't know, it's a new disease and we just don't know,'" she said. Clinics are springing up around the country for what some call a potential second pandemic: Long Covid. Learning that they were not alone, that other people were experiencing the same issues, was a huge revelation for both Hishmeh and Jackson. This was not just in their heads. They were not imagining the pain. They really were sick. Read full story Source: CNN Health, 11 April 2021

The number of people suffering with long Covid should be published routinely, as happens with those infected with or hospitalised with coronavirus, MPs and peers are urging Boris Johnson. The cross-party group of parliamentarians want the prime minister to ensure that the “untold human suffering” that the condition involves helps shape future government policy towards the pandemic. Thirty-two MPs and 33 peers have signed a letter urging Johnson to give greater priority to the potential harm posed by long Covid following the Office for National Statistics’ finding last week that an estimated 1.1m people are suffering its effects – far more than previously thought. The signatories come from eight parties and include the Tory MP Dr Dan Poulter, a former health minister; Lord Darzi, the surgeon and ex-health minister; and the SNP MP Dr Philippa Whitford, who is an NHS breast surgeon. In the letter, coordinated by the all-party parliamentary group on coronavirus, they say: “Cases, hospitalisations and deaths are not the only measure of this pandemic. We urge the government to also count the number of people left with long Covid, many of them whose lives have been devastated by this pandemic. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 9 April 2021

Health coach Jasmine Hayer had to give up her life in London and move back in with her parents after catching Covid. Now she is focused on a twin goal - battling back to health while helping others get the right treatment for Long Covid. Dr William Man, the head of the Royal Brompton Hospital's chest clinic, started treating her in December, as part of a clinic seeing 100 severe long Covid cases in the UK. Jasmine describes it as a "complete game changer". However, she worries that other so-called "long haulers" are not getting the help they need because they face "such a battle" to be taken seriously. She decided to start a blog to document her symptoms and wants to share her story as widely as possible in the hope of helping others. "I've had messages from around the world and I was so happy to hear that one girl has shown her doctor my blog and he is giving her more tests as a result," she says. "I know how lonely and scary it is when you are fighting to be believed. You are literally on your own." Read full story Source: BBC News, 7 April 2021

Long Covid patients have voiced growing frustration at a “postcode lottery” in clinical support for debilitating symptoms, with some areas of the UK offering no specialist clinics more than a year after coronavirus took hold. Other sufferers said they were disappointed by long Covid clinics investigating certain symptoms only, with no comprehensive treatment plan. Official figures suggest there are almost 700,000 Britons with Covid symptoms lasting over three months. In October, NHS England announced more than £10m for a network of clinics bringing together doctors, nurses, therapists and other NHS staff to conduct physical and psychological assessments and recommend treatments for long Covid patients. Additional local funding would also be available to help establish a clinic in every area, the NHS England chief executive, Simon Stevens, said. By December, 69 clinics had been set up in England with a further 12 sites earmarked to launch in January. But Louise Barnes, founder of the Post Acute Covid Syndrome 19 (Pacs19) patient advocacy group, said a survey of 200 British members revealed about 90% had not been able to access a clinic because there wasn’t one available, their GP could not refer them or they were declined without explanation. Others were disappointed by the type of services on offer. Barnes said: “Patients in the UK have waited going on a year to get support for the multitude of symptoms they’ve been experiencing. To finally think you are going to get referred to a clinic but your GP tells you they don’t have any information, or you get there to find it’s a ‘respiratory-only clinic’ or only staffed by physiotherapists leaves them feeling despondent. For the most part, sadly, patients are coming away massively feeling let down and with no viable treatment plan offered – even a rudimentary one, whilst a treatment is found." Read full story Source: The Guardian, 6 April 2021

Intense pressures on the already overstretched NHS are being exacerbated by the tens of thousands of health staff who are sick with Long Covid, doctors and hospital bosses say. At least 122,000 NHS personnel have the condition, the Office for National Statistics disclosed in a detailed report that showed 1.1 million people in the UK were affected by the condition. That is more than any other occupational group and ahead of teachers, of whom 114,000 have it. Patient care is being hit because many of those struggling with Long Covid are only able to work part-time, are too unwell to perform their usual duties, or often need time off because they are in pain, exhausted or have “brain fog”. “Ongoing illness can have a devastating impact on individual doctors, both physically and by leaving them unable to work. Furthermore, it puts a huge strain on the health service, which was already vastly understaffed before the pandemic hit,” said Dr Helena McKeown, the workforce lead at the British Medical Association, which represents doctors. “With around 30,000 sickness absences currently linked to Covid in the NHS in England, we cannot afford to let any more staff become ill. Simply put, if they are off sick, they’re unable to provide care and patients will not get the care and treatment they need. “In the longer term, if more staff face ongoing illness from past COVID-19 infection, the implications for overall workforce numbers will be disastrous.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 3 April 2021

An estimated 10% to 30% of people who get COVID-19 suffer from lingering symptoms of the disease, or what's known as "long COVID." Judy Dodd, who lives in New York City, is one of them. She spent nearly a year plagued by headaches, shortness of breath, extreme fatigue and problems with smell, among other symptoms. She says she worried that this "slog through life" was going to be her new normal. Everything changed after she got her COVID-19 vaccine. "I was like a new person, it was the craziest thing ever," says Dodd, referring to how many of her health problems subsided significantly after her second shot. And she's not alone. As the U.S. pushes to get people vaccinated, a curious benefit is emerging for those with this post-illness syndrome: Their symptoms are easing and, in some cases, fully resolving after they get vaccinated. Judy Dodd suffered lingering symptoms of COVID-19 for nearly a year, until she got her vaccine. It's the latest clue in the immunological puzzle of long COVID, a still poorly understood condition that leaves some who get infected with wide-ranging symptoms months after the initial illness. The notion that a vaccine aimed at preventing the disease may also be a treatment has sparked optimism among patients, and scientists who study the post-illness syndrome are taking a close look at these stories. Read full story Source: NPR, 31 March 2021

More than one million people in the UK are suffering from signs of Long Covid, the Office for National Statistics has said. This is a significant increase in previous estimates of persistent and debilitating symptoms and follows the January surge in coronavirus infections across the UK. The ONS said a total of 1.1 million people in the UK reported experiencing Long Covid symptoms lasting beyond four weeks after infection with COVID-19 that were not explained any something else. Long Covid can include chronic fatigue, shortness of breath, so called ‘brain fog’ as well as serious organ damage to the kidneys, heart and lungs. The ONS found the symptoms were impacting on the day to day lives of 674,000 people, with almost 200,000 people reporting their ability to carry out normal activities had been severely limited. Of those reporting symptoms, almost 700,000 reported having a Covid infection in the previous three months, but 70,000 said it was over a year since their infection. Read full story Source: The Independent, 1 April 2021

Middle-aged women experience the most severe, long-lasting symptoms after being treated in hospital for COVID-19, two UK studies suggest. Five months on, 70% of patients studied were still affected by everything from anxiety to breathlessness, fatigue, muscle pain and "brain fog". But the researchers say there is no obvious link with how ill people originally became. How women's bodies fight off illness could explain their poorer recovery. The larger study - led by the University of Leicester - which is yet to be peer-reviewed, followed up more than 1,000 patients who had been admitted to hospital with Covid-19 in the UK last year. It found that up to 70% had not fully recovered, an average of five months after leaving hospital, with women most affected. A separate smaller pre-print study, led by University of Glasgow, found women under 50 were seven times more likely to be more breathless, and twice as likely to report worse fatigue than men of the same age who had had the illness, seven months after hospital treatment. Read full story Source: BBC News, 25 March 2021

Arianna Eisenberg endured long-haul COVID-19 for eight months, a recurring nightmare of soaking sweats, crushing fatigue, insomnia, brain fog and muscle pain. But Eisenberg’s tale has a happy ending that neither she nor current medical science can explain. Thirty-six hours after her second shot of coronavirus vaccine last month, her symptoms were gone, and they haven’t returned. “I really felt back to myself,” the 34-year-old Brooklyn therapist said, “to a way that I didn’t think was possible when I was really sick.” Some people who have spent months suffering from long-haul COVID-19 are taking to social media to report their delight at seeing their symptoms disappear after their vaccinations, leaving experts chasing yet another puzzling clinical development surrounding the disease caused by the coronavirus. “The only thing that we can safely assume is that an unknown proportion of people who acquire SARS-CoV-2 have long-term symptoms,” said Steven Deeks, an infectious-disease physician at the University of California at San Francisco. “We know the questions. We have no answers. Hard stop.” Read full story Source: The Washington Post, 16 March 2021

Lasting effects of infection from coronavirus are more common in women and children than expected, with at least 10% of people infected suffering persistent symptoms for months, a new review has found. Experts at the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) examined more than 300 separate scientific studies for the analysis. It found many patients reported struggling to access testing and help from the NHS to treat their symptoms, which varied between patients, suggesting long Covid is a group of four possible syndromes affecting patients differently. The report said: “Long Covid appears to be more frequent in women and in young people (including children) than might have been expected,” adding other sufferers could be experiencing an active disease, impacting on their organs and causing debilitating symptoms that would need ongoing treatment. In some patients, the effects included neurological changes in their brains while others showed signs of blood clotting and inflammation. Other patients reported anxiety, fatigue and damage to their lungs and heart. It also warned there was evidence some long Covid patients could actually be getting worse, underlining the need to invest in services that will be needed to cope with what could be a long term problem. Read full story Source: The Independent, 16 March 2021