Long Covid sufferers and trade unions demand condition legally recognised as disability

Patients are unable to access benefits or demand workplace rights, Tim Wyatt reports

Many of those with Long Covid are unable to work due to extreme fatigue and other symptoms (Getty Images)

Long Covid sufferers and trade unions have called on the government to urgently recognise the condition as a long-term disability, to unlock badly-needed support for those forced into poverty by their symptoms.

Speaking to the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Coronavirus during an evidence session on Tuesday, people who have been living with Long Covid said they were barred from most financial support despite losing jobs.

Tim Hughes told MPs and peers he had lost his job shortly after testing positive in October last year and as a result had had to move in with brother, mostly sleeping on the floor.