UK sees record number of people off work due to long-term sickness

By PAN PYLAS
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — The number of people in the U.K. not working because of long-term sickness has risen to a record high, partly because of ongoing health problems related to the coronavirus pandemic. The Office for National Statistics said Tuesday that 2.55 million people were not able to work in the three months to March, which is over 6% of the country’s working population. That was up nearly 100,000 on the previous quarter. The agency said the pandemic is likely to be one of the main causes of much of the increase in the number of long-term sick over the past three years or so, including those suffering from long COVID symptoms such as post-viral fatigue.