Long Covid is the pandemic’s dark shadow. Why does no one in power in Britain want to talk about it? | Frances Ryan

Five years after the first lockdown, millions of lives are still being ruined by this debilitating disease. You wouldn't know it

Imagine a disease that can render its sufferers bedbound for years. One that could take a marathon runner and leave them unable to walk to the toilet. Imagine that at least 2 million people in England and Scotland alone were affected to some degree, each with a mix of debilitating symptoms, from breathlessness to brain fog to multi-organ damage.

Then imagine that there were no proven treatments for this life-changing illness, let alone a cure. In fact, patients are often told it's all in their heads. Now imagine that more people are falling ill every day with the virus that causes this devastating disability - and that successive governments have abandoned almost every strategy to try to get to grips with it.

Frances Ryan is a Guardian columnist

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org