Dr. John Lambert:

I cannot give the Deputy those data because this is new and we are still in the process of analysing it. One of my doctoral students, Dr. Brendan O'Kelly, who is in UCD's Newman fellowship and studying long Covid, took the lead in many of these publications. We are in the process of studying 155 patients from a year ago. We will do a follow-up evaluation to see what percentage of those 155 are back to normal and what percentage are still sick. We will do repeat questionnaires with them.

The good news is that, while the rate is 30% after one year, it is less at 15 months and less again at 18 months, but there is still a population of patients who do not get better or they sort of get better and try to return to the workplace only to crash again, with a relapse of all their symptoms. Covid-19 is a scary virus - it damages the brain and the immune system. It is not just the common cold virus. I continue to wear my mask. I do not want to catch Covid myself. I do not want to be out of work. I continue encouraging people to take this virus seriously. We are still learning about it and it is not going away.