An estimated 430,000 Britons were still suffering from long Covid two years after first contracting the virus, according to data released by the Office for National Statistics.

One in every 32 people in the UK was estimated to have some form of long Covid at the end of July, equivalent to 2 million people.

Of those, close to three-quarters reported that their symptoms were adversely affecting their day-to-day activities, an estimated 1.5 million people.

Close to one-in-five long Covid sufferers – 384,000 individuals reported that their ability to undertake their day-to-day activities had been “limited a lot”.

Fatigue continues to be the most common symptom reported by individuals with long Covid, with more than three in five sufferers (62%) reporting weakness or tiredness.

About a third of those surveyed reported shortness of breath as one of their symptoms (37%) while difficulty concentrating (33%) and muscle ache (31%) were the next most cited symptoms.

Certain groups are at a higher risk of long Covid than others. These included people aged 35 to 69 years; women; people living in more deprived areas; those working in social care; and those with another activity limiting health condition or disability, who are proportionately more likely to suffer with long Covid than other groups.

The NHS has responded to the high number of long Covid patients by setting up clinics to assess, diagnose and treat them and refer them on to other services, such as cardiology departments for those with heart problems.

However, the Royal College of Nursing warned in June that there were too few specialist clinics to handle the soaring demand for treatment, with only a tiny number of sufferers receiving any help.

Prof Danny Altmann, an immunologist at Imperial College London and a trustee of the charity Long Covid Support, said current provision in the form of long Covid clinics was “barely managing to scratch the surface of the needs for this huge new group of patients”.

“It’s impossible for us to emphasise sufficiently the extent to which the bitter legacy of Covid-19 is very much with us in the blighted lives of these long-hauler, long Covid sufferers. For many of these people, the consequences have been truly life-changing, in terms of lost ability to work in their former jobs, to get out of the house, or to do their former activities and hobbies.

“There really is an urgent need both for more research into potential treatments and for more clinical service provision.”