Calls for more training in North Yorkshire schools to support children with long covid

Many are still being impacted years after first catching the virus

Author: Kathy GreenPublished 27th Jan 2023

There are calls for every school in North Yorkshire to have a member of staff trained up to support pupils suffering with long covid.

12 year old Freya who lives near Selby says it'd be a huge help for children like her.

She's slowly recovering after catching the virus more than a year ago.

She's now back in class but says some days can still be really tough. :"I've still got my back pain, still got chronic fatigue syndrome but I am handling it a lot better than I was before." She tells at one point it completely took over her life: "I was really struggling to move around, I was really tired, I was coughing a lot, I couldn't do the things I wanted to, I couldn't go to school, I couldn't go to dance or football".

Her Mum Emma says the condition has had a huge impact on the whole family. She has been telling us she'd love to see all schools have a dedicated member of staff trained up to spot the signs of long-covid and help pupils manage the condition: "We can't thank the long-covid kids charity enough, they are amazing, without their support my mental health would be in a lot worse situation than it is now. I think ideally a representative at every school would be trained to know what the signs and symptoms are because so many children have got it."

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