Scots Long Covid sufferers say condition is 'debilitating' with many still housebound

Children and adults with Long Covid yesterday bravely told of their pain and suffering as they demanded urgent action from the Scottish Government.One Long Covid patient Calum O’Dwyer told how he has to take a portable bed with him wherever he goes because his condition is exacerbated by being upright, either sitting or standing, for any length of time.And a clutch of children heartbreakingly told of how the illness had wrecked their little lives.Addressing a press conference hosted by Labour’s health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie they begged to be taken seriously and offered more support.Currently 155,000 Scots are suffering with Long Covid, some of whom have been affected for more than two years, with numbers rising.Baillie pointed out the Scottish Government’s £10 million announcement for Long Covid over three years was the equivalent to just £19 per patient per year which is “frankly inadequate”.Baillie said she had called the press conference “because of the anger of members of the cross party group following the Long Covid debate in parliament and the evident lack of understanding at the action coming from the Scottish Government.”The Long Covid Scotland Group and Long Covid Kids agreed pointing our lengthy waiting lists for specialists and services while doctors gave testimony of other actions which could be taken for diagnosis of complications but it was the evidence of those with “lived experience” which really drove the agenda.Calum, 30, was an engineer before contracting Covid in March 2020 and while the initial symptoms of the virus did not appear too serious, five weeks later he felt he had been “hit by a bus”.He suffered muscle weakness, fatigue, brain fog and couldn’t even wash dishes because he couldn’t lift