About one in five people have symptoms of long Covid five weeks after an initial infection and one in seven after 12 weeks, an Office of National Statistics (ONS) survey suggests.

It estimates that 1.1 million people were affected in the UK in the four weeks from 6 February.

About 20% of people said ongoing symptoms limited their day-to-day activities a lot.

People were asked to report their own symptoms.

The ONS survey asked people if they faced issues such as fatigue lasting more than four weeks after a Covid infection that could not be explained by anything else.

There is no universally agreed definition of long Covid, but it covers a broad range of symptoms including fatigue and muscle pain.

The survey of UK households found:

• People aged 35 to 49 were most likely to report symptoms, followed by those aged 50 to 69
• Women were more likely to report symptoms persisting for at least five weeks after an initial infection
• Health and social care workers reported the highest rates of long Covid compared with other occupations, possibly because of greater awareness and a higher chance of coronavirus exposure
• People with other pre-existing health conditions that limited their day-to-day activities were more likely to report long Covid symptoms

Long Covid: More than a million affected in February, survey suggests

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