Long COVID affects 109,000 people in Yorkshire and the Humber, meaning that 1 in 50 people in the region suffer from the illness.

The figures, published yesterday by the Office for National Statistics, show the lasting effects on people who had COVID-19 at least 12 weeks previously.

Professor Helen Ward told an Imperial College Academic Health Science Centre (AHSC) online seminar there was “an implicit assumption that you either die or get better.

“We also need to measure long-term health impacts.”

Symptoms of long COVID or post-COVID-19 syndrome, include fatigue, ‘brain fog’, and loss of smell.

Long COVID can also have long-term impacts on existing health inequalities.

Sana Habib, a medical student, conducted research into the impact of long COVID on Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic individuals.

She said: “There is a very big health inequality between Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic Individuals and the White British majority.

“With long COVID, those inequalities are going to broaden even more because of the fact that there’s no information out there.”

The next month’s long COVID data will be released 6 January 2022.