A journalist has opened up about her ongoing battle with long Covid – saying it had made her a “different person” 10 months after initially suffering from coronavirus.

MyLondon reporter Hayley Clarke has revealed the effects she continues to feel today, having first been diagnosed with Covid-19 in March when she was working as a teacher.

It is estimated that more than 300,000 people in the UK are suffering from long Covid, with many unable to work or get out of bed months and months after catching the disease.

Hayley, pictured, experiences symptoms including coughing fits after every meal, grey faces and black rings under her eyes and suffering asthma attacks after trying to dust her room or put on some spray deodorant.

In a piece for MyLondon, she wrote: “It still affects my life every day. I still get tired from walks, have depleted energy and frequent asthma attacks.

“I still wake up all throughout every night gasping with thirst, and occasionally still gasping for air. Things also taste different, which is another strange side effect.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever get better, and neither do the doctors and nurses that have tried to help me.

“We’re all weaving between the scientific suggestions and uncertainties, learning together how best to navigate these new waters and try to manage my symptoms. My doctor’s surgery has no access to the long Covid clinics, so I can’t get any help there.

“My energy levels remain about 40 per cent of what they were before the pandemic, which makes me feel like I have a different personality and has left me feeling like I’ve lost part of myself.”

Hayley, who began working for MyLondon at the start of this month and is undergoing NCTJ training with PA, added her lungs feel “completely different” to before too.

She said: “This week, I’ve started the couch to 5k as an attempt to regain my fitness levels and lung functionality after such a long, drawn out period.

“I really hope that it works, and doesn’t send me into another relapse from overdoing it.

“I know I’m one of the lucky ones. I have my life, I’m able to work and can do so from the safety of my own home.

“But I really hope that one day I’ll get better.”