Long Covid statistics (FOI)

Request

I would like to know the amount of people who have been diagnosed as suffering with Long Covid (Post Covid Syndrome). I would like this broken down into age ranges. How many people have been referred to the Long Covid Clinic and how many under 18-year-olds have been diagnosed with Long Covid (Post Covid Syndrome).

Response

There have been 257 referrals to the Long Covid Clinic.

Diagnosis of Long Covid (also known as Post-Covid Syndrome) is made by healthcare professionals, e.g., GPs, hospital consultants and other Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) prior to the person being seen in the Long Covid Clinic. Following such a diagnosis, patients are referred if there is an ongoing clinical need. 

Many people can be managed under the care of their GP and so do not require onwards referral to Health and Community Services (HCS) for care through the Long Covid Clinic. GP practices are private businesses and HCS does not hold data on GP diagnosed cases of Long Covid for anyone who has not been referred into their service. As such, HCS is unable to confirm the total number of people diagnosed with Long Covid in Jersey, and Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies.

In Jersey, those aged under 17 years old who are referred to Jersey General Hospital would be managed under Paediatrics. Health and Community Services’ Paediatric team have no patients with a confirmed diagnosis of Long Covid and no referrals have been made to the Long Covid Clinic for anyone under 18 years of age.

The number of referrals to the Long Covid Clinic represents all data held by HCS on the number of professionally diagnosed cases of Long Covid. The table below shows the age demographic breakdown of this data.

Article 3 - Meaning of “information held by a public authority”

For the purposes of this Law, information is held by a public authority if –

(a)     it is held by the authority, otherwise than on behalf of another person; or

(b)     it is held by another person on behalf of the authority.