‘I don’t feel part of society’: how Covid is still taking its toll five years on

‘We’re not post-pandemic, we’re post-precautions’: some feel the realities of Covid are still part of their everyday lives. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

Five years ago, on 11 March 2020 the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Covid-19 a global pandemic. In the intervening years, more than 7 million people worldwide have been reported to have died from Covid. For most people, life as they remember it before the outbreak has returned to the way it was before. However, respondents to a Guardian callout reflect a more complex picture for those who are still affected.

While many reported feeling happier that working from home has allowed for a more flexible work-life balance and that eating more healthily and exercising has become a priority, many others described how they still live with what happened.