Ms Julia Corey:

I can give the Senator a few different estimates we have. The WHO estimates that 10% to 20% of all infections, which includes reinfections, result in long Covid symptoms. If we take the number of reported Covid-19 cases in Ireland to date, and a conservative estimate of 10%, it would mean approximately 350,000 people in Ireland are living with long Covid. There is also significant under-reporting of cases, especially in the past year or two. Until the HIQA review done last year, we also reviewed various international literature items on prevalence. Across seven studies, the range for the prevalence of long Covid was found to be 15.2% to 53.1% in studies based on self-reported data, and from 1.8% to 8.3% in studies concerning those who had a diagnosis or referral of long Covid.