As everyone knows the Omicron variant has caused a huge spike in
COVID-19 infections. There is thankfully some evidence which
appears to show that the infection spike is starting to plateaux
and therefore the worst may be behind us. It is likely that given
the impact of the Omicron variant there will likely be an increase
in cases of Long COVID which will impact the workplace.
Data
The Office of National Statistics (ONS) have
confirmed that in the week ending 31 December 2021 there were
3,270,800 infections in England - equating to 1 in 15 people. The
figures for the UK were 3,739,600 infections - Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Survey, UK -
Office for National Statistics.
The ONS have confirmed that as of 6 January 2022 there were
approximately 1.3 million people in the UK suffering with Long
COVID (2% of the population) . The ONS has confirmed that 40% of
those people (506,000) have reported to suffering from symptoms of
Long COVID for more than 12 months.
