Medics discuss support for islanders with ‘Long Covid’

Monday 08 March 2021

Local medics have set up a group to investigate how they can better support islanders who continue to suffer covid symptoms, and side effects, many months after first being infected.

Deputy Medical Officer for Health Dr Ivan Muscat said that a working group had been set up to ensure islanders with 'Long Covid' can be referred to the relevant specialists.

His comments came following a question by Express during Friday’s press conference on Jersey’s covid roadmap.

17-year-old Aliyah Buesnel recently shared her experience of Long Covid to highlight that for some the virus has not gone away, despite the number of cases in the island having reduced considerably.

The teenager tested positive for covid at the end of October and according to official statistics was declared recovered 14 days later. However, the reality for her is far different.

Her taste is still not back to normal and she has been diagnosed with temporary rheumatoid arthritis, which should have gone in a couple of weeks, but hasn't. 

Pictured: Aliyah Buesnel shared her story of living with Long Covid with Express.

When asked what the Government is doing to support islanders like Aliyah suffering from Long Covid, Dr Muscat said it was “an important topic and one that needs to be addressed."

“We have formed a working party which has met, both formally and informally, over the past few weeks to ensure that there are structures in place to address Long Covid, to ensure that GPs and other doctors and healthcare professionals as a whole are aware of this and what to look out for and what the referral pathways are to manage these situations,” he explained.

“The presentation of Long Covid can be quite variable and we are aware of this and we will be making sure that people are referred to the right specialties to ensure their optimum care, but it is very much on our agenda and we are pursuing it.”

Pictured: Dr Muscat said the care of islanders suffering from Long Covid will get "better and better".

He said that, while referrals can already be made, health professionals want to make sure the care of those islanders “gets better and better”. 

Dr Muscat also issued a reminder about the importance of the vaccination programme in the fight against the virus. 

“The most important thing to allow us to manage Long Covid well is to vaccinate people as soon as possible to prevent covid in the first place of course and we are very mindful of that as well.”