‘I last went to school in December’: a headteacher’s battle with long Covid

Steve Bladon at home in Boston, Lincolnshire. ‘It’s like being in someone else’s body,’ the once-energetic man says of long Covid. Photograph: Simon Barber/The Guardian

Last month, Steve Bladon, a father of four, watched with some unease as the prime minister announced the lifting of all Covid restrictions in England. After two years of the pandemic – the lockdowns, the legal requirements to self-isolate, the social distancing and mandatory masks – the message from government was that it may not be over, but it’s time to learn to live with Covid.

As the headteacher of a primary school in a small town in Lincolnshire, Bladon, 46, knows as much as anyone about living with the virus. He has led his team and school community tirelessly through the pandemic, delivering remote education and food parcels, reassuring anxious parents and keeping colleagues calm.