Those who have had Covid-19 are significantly more at risk of a host of deadly illnesses compared to those who never contracted the virus, according to a new study.
Millions of Brits have already been infected with Covid-19 and others have also been given more protection due to the Autumn booster rollout.
Experts have since found that those who have contracted the virus have an increased risk of heart issues and even death.
The findings suggest that a greater risk of heart conditions and death is within the first 30 days of infection, but can remain high for some time.
Those who are admitted to the hospital with Covid are 27 times more likely to develop venous thromboembolism (VTE) than those who never have the bug, according to research published in Heart.
And those who didn't require hospital treatment are still three times more likely to develop VTE than those who never had the virus.
VTE is a condition that occurs when a blood clot forms in a vein - and if the blood clot is large or left untreated, it can cause death.
Researchers from the Queen Mary University of London also said people who are hospitalised with Covid are 21 times more likely to be diagnosed with heart failure and 17 times more likely to have a stroke.
Those who contract Covid are also more likely to be diagnosed with an irregular heart and inflammation of the heart and have a heart attack.
Covid sufferers wjho wer admitted to hospital with the virus were 118 times as likely to die compared to those who didn’t need hospital treatment.
The data included more than 50,000 people from the UK Biobank, 17,871 of whom were diagnosed with Covid-19.
They were tracked until a heart issue developed or they died.
Commenting on the results, the researchers said: “The long-term sequelae of past Covid exposure is emerging as a dominant public health concern."
They added: "Our findings highlight the increased cardiovascular risk of individuals with past infection, which are likely to be greater in countries with limited access to vaccination and thus greater population exposure to Covid."
It comes as Covid-19 infections continue to climb in three UK regions as infections have soared by 15 per cent.
Just over two million people in the UK are likely to have tested positive for Covid-19 in the week to October 10, according to the latest figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The latest figures show that is up from 1.7million from the previous week and the highest total since the week to July 26.
Covid-19 infections are continuing to rise in England and Wales with the biggest increases being seen in Yorkshire and The Humber, the West Midlands and the South East.
