During the summer of 2022, the Swedish Covid Association conducted a survey to which 1,155 members responded.

The survey shows that the symptoms after covid have major consequences.

Can't take care of the family

One in four answers that they have been forced to quit work or quit their main occupation.

9 out of 10 have been forced to stop meaningful leisure activities.

- Many people write that they cannot take care of their family, hang out with their friends and exercise.

Over 90 percent answer that it is fatigue, an enormous tiredness, that makes it difficult for them in everyday life.

A lot of people also have cognitive difficulties, says Tove Lundberg, who chairs the association.

Only three percent received the right help

Only three percent respond that they have received sufficient help in care.

- We have long been told that it is risk groups that have a greater risk of being hit hard by covid-19 and that the rest of us get a mild illness and will be healthy.

But it makes invisible the fact that many of us are still sick two years after covid, even though we did not belong to any risk group, says Tove Lundberg.

Need post-covid receptions

She does not believe that the public and health care have sufficient knowledge about post-covid.

Another issue that the association wants to raise is that postcovid is an umbrella diagnosis that can involve very different symptoms and degrees of impairment.

- We believe that people with mild symptoms get help in primary care.

But there is also a need for multidisciplinary post-covid clinics that can help those with severe post-covid.

Poor understanding – and one-sided view of risk groups

Many also answer that they received poor understanding from those around them.

- We believe that the general picture, that those of us who are not in the risk group are not at risk of becoming seriously ill, is an aggravating factor.

We have not asked the children in this survey, but reports from the Children's Ombudsman show that children who have post-covid also do not get the understanding they need.

There is an idea that children are only mildly affected, which is not true for everyone.