LONG covid in children is a “cause for concern”, experts have warned.

The mysterious illness leaves sufferers with long-term symptoms of coronavirus, ranging from extreme fatigue to constant headaches.

Although most cases until now have been seen in adults, new data from the Office for National Statistics revealed 13% of under 11s and 15% of 12 to 16-year-olds reported symptoms five weeks after catching covid.

Professor Christina Pagel, SAGE government adviser and director of clinical operational research at University College London, told the Guardian that although the data is still uncertain it simply shouldn’t be ignored.

She specifically pointed out the fact vaccines for children are unlikely to be licensed until the end of this year at the very earliest which, combined with schools returning next week, increases the chances of new long covid cases.

Last week mum Nichola Careless, from Ashington, revealed how long covid left her once sporty son Immanuel, 12, in a wheelchair while her daughter Eleni, 11, still has shortness of breath, stomach and joint pain and dizziness.

Eleni caught covid in September, although Immanuel’s test result was negative – although both children had fortnight-long coughs before becoming seriously ill, Nichola told the BBC.

Follow our coronavirus live blog below for the very latest news and updates on the pandemic…

JABS SLASH HOSPITALISATIONS BY 80 PER CENT

A single dose of either the Oxford or Pfizer vaccine can slash hospitalisations from Covid in older people by 80 per cent, Matt Hancock has confirmed.

The Health Secretary also revealed that the British jab may even offer better protection from catching the disease after new data was published tonight.

The figures, taken from a Public Health England (PHE), were calculated by comparing people who had received a first dose of the jab with others of a similar age who had not got their vaccine yet.

Addressing the nation at a Downing Street press conference, Mr Hancock said the data was “extremely good news”.
DON’T NEED EU

Britain’s vaccine success is thanks to Brexit, a German MEP has said – adding the “dead hand of the EU” is to blame for the fiasco across the rest of Europe.

It comes as data showed some snail-pace European nations will not manage to jab the majority of adults until 2023 if they continue at the current rate.

UK regulators approved the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines much earlier than the equivalent EU body, the European Medicines Agency.

And EU commission chief Ursula von der Leyen took control of ordering doses for the whole bloc, a decision many blame for agonising delays.
HOTEL HORROR

A man has been arrested after allegedly raping a 13-year-old girl and then beating her in a hellhole quarantine hotel.

Yarin Sherf, 21, is alleged to have attacked the teen at a state-run Covid-19 quarantine hotel in the port city of Jaffa, Israel.

Police arrested Sherf on Wednesday night after receiving a report of sexual assault at the facility where he and the victim had been staying, the Times of Israel reported.

The hotel is used to quarantine confirmed COVID-19 patients from state welfare dormitories that are for young people unable to live at home.

COVID DEATHS – LOWEST SINCE OCTOBER

Coronavirus deaths have risen by 104 – the lowest toll since October.

Cases have increased by 5,455, bringing the total to 4,182,009.

It brings the total number of deaths since the beginning of the pandemic to 122,953.

Today’s rise in fatalities is 42 per cent lower than the 178 deaths recorded on February 22.

And it is significantly below the 230 deaths reported the week before on February 15.

It marks the lowest rise in deaths since October 26, when 102 deaths were recorded.
UNCERTAINTY OVER SUMMER HOLIDAYS

Brits face uncertainty over their summer holidays this year as Jonathan Van Tam warned Europe was so far behind in their vaccine rollout.

The Deputy Chief Medical Officer said he couldn’t say either way whether it would be possible for the nation to take a summer holiday this year or not.

At tonight’s Downing Street press conference he said: “We are still in a zone of great uncertainty about what the virus will do next.

“On top of that many of the vaccination programmes in Europe, a place where we frequently go on holiday, are running behind ours.

“Whether we can go on holidays abroad depends on what other countries will say and do in terms of foreign tourism.

“I am not going to give you a firm answer, I don’t think there is one at this point.”
TEACHING ASSISTANT, 28, DIED OF COVID

The family of a 28-year-old teaching assistant and mum who died of Covid are paying tribute after she was found lifeless in bed.

Noleen Thompson, from West Belfast, died days after testing positive for coronavirus, leaving her two children behind.

Noleen’s partner Martin found her unresponsive in bed on Wednesday, Belfast Live reported.

She leaves behind her two sons, five-year-old Jacob and eight-year-old Reece, as well as her mum and dad, Noreen and Paul, and her three siblings.