In June 2024, 3% of young people still reported having persistent symptoms after COVID-19. Nearly half of them are unable to participate fully in secondary school or further education as a result. These findings are from the latest quarterly survey. The results of this study are part of Health Research for COVID-19.
The Network for Health Research in Disasters (GOR Network) publishes a quarterly update on this page, summarising key results from survey research and data from primary care providers. A research update on adults is published every six months. The aim is to provide information to the municipalities, the provinces and the national government of the Netherlands to assist them in formulating policies to facilitate better pandemic preparedness and to mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Summary of research round 12
Post-COVID poses obstacles to participation in society
3% of young people still reported having persistent symptoms after COVID-19. This is also known as post-COVID or Long COVID. Nearly half of the young people with self-reported post-COVID are unable to participate fully: 27% are taking fewer classes, while 20% have formally put their studies on hold due to illness or deregistered completely. One-fifth of young people reported that their social contacts have become limited or vanished altogether as a result of their illness. This includes contact with both friends and family. Many reported that the limited contact is because is that they have no energy or are too tired to interact with others. They also see fewer people because they can participate in fewer social activities at school, work or sports clubs. In addition, some feel misunderstood by the people around them, or have well-meaning people who try not to overburden them, causing them to feel excluded as a result.
Working from home
Three-quarters of the young people who are working do not have a job that would allow them to work from home. Of those young people whose job does permit them to work from home, the majority enjoy that. It seems that young people are more likely to enjoy working from home if they can decide themselves about how and when they work from home.
In-person interaction and relaxation make people happy
In this survey round, young people wrote about what makes them happy. For a significant majority of young people, happiness is related to relationships with friends and family and the perception of friendly interaction and connection. Doing fun things in their free time, playing sports and relaxing were also often mentioned by young people.
Contact with GP
Compared to the same period in 2019, there was a 45% increase in GP visits related to suicide (fatal and non-fatal suicide attempts, but also suicidal thoughts) among young people aged 0-24 years in the second quarter of 2024. Memory and concentration problems and dizziness were also mentioned as reasons for children, adolescents and young people to visit their GP, occurring more often than before the pandemic.