More than 2 million people in Hong Kong may have suffered from long Covid, ongoing study finds
- Researchers at Chinese University urge government to establish designated clinics to provide early treatment for those experiencing long Covid
- Ongoing study by CUHK has interviewed almost 7,000 respondents so far, with plans to reach 10,000
More than 2 million Hongkongers may have experienced symptoms of long Covid, according to an ongoing study, with 70 per cent of interviewees reporting conditions such as depression, poor memory and hair loss.
The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) researchers behind the study, which involved 6,994 respondents and was released on Sunday, urged authorities to establish designated clinics to provide early treatment for those with the condition to prevent further pressure on the city’s healthcare system, noting some cases lasted for up to two years.
Professor Francis Chan Ka-leung, the dean of CUHK’s medical faculty and the director of the Centre for Gut Microbiota Research, said 70 per cent of respondents in the study, which was conducted between July and October, had experienced at least one persistent symptom of long Covid, a condition that could last for more than four weeks after recovery from the initial infection.
“Around 30 per cent of [the respondents] had received two or three doses of the vaccine. Their symptoms are mostly short-term and mild. But the symptoms of the rest of them, 70 per cent of them, are continuous,” he said.
“Some of them have been suffering from the symptoms since the fourth wave of the pandemic for two years.”
As part of the ongoing research effort supported by the Hospital Authority, which started in July, staff at CUHK aimed to interview at least 10,000 people of varying ages using a bilingual online survey, Chan said.
