NG188 advises on a holistic approach in helping people recover. Taking a comprehensive history should include assessing physical, cognitive, psychological and psychiatric symptoms, as well as functional abilities.4

The current view on the likelihood of developing long-term COVID related symptoms does not seem to be linked to the severity of the acute COVID-19 infection. In addition, new and/or ongoing symptoms can change unpredictably, affecting the patient in different ways at different times.

This means no prediction should be made about whether a person is likely to develop post€‘COVID€‘19 syndrome based on whether they experienced certain symptoms (or clusters of symptoms) or were hospitalised during acute COVID€‘19.

People with ongoing symptomatic COVID-19 or suspected post-COVID-19 syndrome need urgent referral if they have signs or symptoms that could be caused by an acute or life€‘threatening complication. These include:4

·       severe hypoxaemia or oxygen desaturation on exercise;

·       signs of severe lung disease;

·       cardiac chest pain;

·       multisystem inflammatory syndrome (in children).

The publication of NG188 coincided with the NHS announcement that it had opened 69 long COVID clinics with 12 more to come. These assessment centres take “referrals from GPs for people experiencing brain fog, anxiety, depression, breathlessness, fatigue and other debilitating symptoms.”5

NHS online advice is for people to contact a GP if they are worried about symptoms 4 weeks or more after having coronavirus and to visit the ‘Your COVID Recovery’ website (www.yourcovidrecovery.nhs.uk).6