Dr. John Lambert:

It seems to be more common in women than men, but in our first wave it was equally balanced between men and women because they were primarily healthcare workers who came in from the first wave. Our studies at one year showed that 30% of people were still not right. I would say that 1% were unable to work, function or get out of bed, so they were unable to return to work. Looking at the number of cases in Ireland, which is approximately 5 million because some people have had the virus two or three times, each time you get Covid, you are at risk of long Covid. If you calculate conservatively that 1% will be disabled by long Covid, that is 1% of 5 million. Looking at people impacted by long Covid, lots of staff tell me that they got mild Covid three months earlier and that their brain is not working right. They cannot remember their PIN or names at work. It has a subtle effect on many people, and that is the 30% I was reporting from the studies that we did at the Mater.