#LongCOVID – what is the role of the physio? #physiotalk 19th October

This #physiotalk tweetchat will take place on Monday 19th October at 8pm BST.

At the start of the pandemic we had chats on our urgent responses to the COVID crisis – PPE, respiratory care, rehabilitation after ICU. Now we are settled into our roles in these areas, we know what to do even as a second wave seems to be gathering pace.

However one aspect of COVID is now showing itself to be a problem – that of Long COVID.

This has been recognised by the NHS with NHS England announcing that people with long COVID symptoms will be offered specialist help, with the announcement specifically mentioning physiotherapy support. They say that ‘Increasing medical evidence and patient testimony is showing that a small but significant minority of people who contract Covid cannot shake off the effects of the virus months after initially falling ill. Some estimates suggest that 10% of Covid patients may still be experiencing symptoms more than three weeks after infection, and perhaps 60,000 people could be suffering from long covid symptoms after more than three months’

NICE are working on evidence based guidelines that are due out in November, and the ‘Your COVID recovery’ website offers support which is endorsed by the CSP. But given the new nature of this problem – how can we support people know with advice, information and rehabilitation that is appropriate? Is there evidence out there, can we learn from other post viral syndromes, or are we relying on anecdotal information from individuals living with Long COVID to guide our approaches?