It’s nearly four years since the last Covid restrictions were lifted, but Covid isn’t over. For some people, it never will be.

Long Covid is the bitter, stinging legacy of the pandemic and is every bit as much of a problem now as it ever was – not that you would know it from the minimal attention it gets.

Long Covid cuts a swathe through the lives of children and adults alike, and the numbers affected are staggering. In Scotland alone, there are estimated to be over 185,000 people with this disease, living with debilitating symptoms like crushing fatigue, brain fog, digestive problems, breathing difficulties and muscle weakness.

My lovely nephew is one of those people. He was an energetic student in his final year at Glasgow University when he caught Covid-19 aged 22 and has been laid low by Long Covid since. He was full of plans, to work and travel, but instead, had to give up his job and move back in with his parents.

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It’s been like watching someone being drugged and restrained. His body cries out for sleep but rest doesn’t refresh him. He could sleep for 10 hours and still wake up feeling shattered. Most days since being infected, he has had a painful upset stomach. Like other people with Long Covid, he has bad days and better days, but can never predict what’s coming. Some days he can do things, others he can barely hold a conversation.

All that is bad enough, but what compounds the distress is the lack of meaningful support. To say that NHS support services are inadequate to meet people’s needs would be a........

© Herald Scotland