People with Long Covid can't fully participate in society: RIVM

Many people with Long Covid are unable to fully participate in society. The persisting symptoms, especially a lack of energy, impact their ability to attend school or work and affect their social relationships, the RIVM reported after its twelfth quarterly survey on the topic of Long Covid.

Three percent of the over 12,000 respondents (12 and older) the RIVM surveyed have Long Covid - symptoms that persist long after a Covid-19 infection. The percentage is equally high among young people and adults.

“Long Covid has a major impact on work, study, or school for young people and adults,” the RIVM found. Almost half of young people said that it impacted their school and studies - 27 percent attend fewer lessons, 20 percent are not attending lessons at all or have deregistered.

Among adults, 34 percent said they work less or stopped working. Another 12 percent indicated that they don’t have a job. “Long Covid may contribute to this,” the RIVM said.

A fifth of young people and a quarter of adults also indicated that they have less or no contact with their friends and family due to the disease. “A common reason for this is that they do not have the energy,” the RIVM said. “They also see fewer people because they participate in fewer social activities.”

Both young people and adults noted that their social contacts invite them to fewer things, trying to spare them with the best of intentions. “But they also feel excluded as a result,” the RIVM said. Only a few respondents indicated that they‘ve developed a better bond with family or friends since getting Long Covid.