“I never had an illness like it”: the 1.3 million people living with long Covid

As the Prime Minister says he wants all Covid restrictions in England to go by the end of the month, what about those who can't put the pandemic behind them? Almost 1.3 million people are estimated to be living with long Covid in the UK, struggling with symptoms for more than a year after first becoming infected with the virus. Claire Hastie is a long Covid sufferer and founder of Britain’s biggest online support group, with over 47,000 members on Facebook. “Several times I thought I was going to die,” she tells Andy Bell, recalling her many trips to A&E since first catching Covid in March 2020, and how doctors had “no idea” of how to treat her. She sheds a light on the daily realities of living with this debilitating and little understood condition, and what the government and the NHS need to do to about this enormous health challenge that’s not going away anytime soon. How Did We Get Here? Explaining the News is a podcast from 5 News. Join Andy Bell as he explains the world's biggest news stories through interviews with politicians, experts, and analysts. Produced by Silvia Maresca.