Like The Queen, I too have been left exhausted by that illness which was possibly started by people who eat bats [other theories are available] and now I am naturally knocked out with delight to learn that it may also have left us both brain-damaged.

Not left us “brain-fogged”, as we are all being semantically-nannied to call one of the symptoms of Long Covid. No, now, say the medics, call it brain-damage or brain-injury, because that’s what it looks like it is.

I thought I’d got away with Covid lightly because I could still smell trouble and taste Scotch. But, possibly like Her Majesty, apparently I haven’t.

I don’t know if you’ve seen this yet, but researchers are now saying that “brain-fog”, i.e. the inability to think as clearly as usual, isn’t quite as mumsy as it sounds, “ooo, I’m feeling a little foggy today”.

Instead, a new study published in Nature Publications by the Tulane University National Primate Research Centre has, as Medical News Today reports it, “shown that SARS-CoV-2 infection causes brain inflammation and even cell death, among other forms of brain injury”.

You can read all the technical stuff about it here.

But for me the key bit of Medical New Today’s report is this: “Dr. James Jackson, director of behavioural health at the ICU recovery center at Vanderbilt University who was not involved in the research, said the findings added to the growing evidence that Covid-19 can cause brain injury.

“He advocated for a move away from the term ‘brain fog’ to describe neurological or cognitive symptoms following Covid-19. Instead, he explained in an interview with Medical News Today: ‘If people begin to think of this as a brain injury, and not just as brain fog they’ll be more inclined to do what we do with people with brain injuries. Namely, we refer them to cognitive rehabilitation experts who can help them.’”

Have you been referred to a cognitive rehabilitation expert? I haven’t. Nor, as far as I know, has The Queen been. But it appears that there are a fair few of us who may need to be referred as the Office for National Statistics estimates that between 3 per and 12 per cent of all of us who catch Covid will suffer from Long Covid.

The ONS says that as of January this year 1.3 million or 1 in 50 have Long Covid.

It’s not much of a laugh; although there are many possible symptoms of it, the common ones tend to be extreme tiredness, shortness of breath, tightening of the chest, problems with memory and concentration ("brain fog") and difficulty sleeping.

Yep, I’ve all of those, plus the occasional affliction of the dizziness, pins and needles, joint pain, depression and tinnitus which are among the other symptoms.

But what are we Long Covidists meant to do about this after-illness about which very little is yet known? Gov.uk says call my doctor and I “may be given advice about how to manage and monitor your symptoms at home.”

Here we go, back to the old DIY health service again.

Better help, or at least more comforting, is found at longcovid.org - where I was interested to see that the support group is prominently featuring a Tweet from a Dr Elisa Perego @elisaperego78 saying: “It is now reported Queen Elizabeth is suffering from #LongCovid symptoms, like severe exhaustion. I find it troubling, from the interview, she seemed not really aware of the possibility of Long Covid even after a "mild" case, at the beginning.”

I know that there’s a war on and rocketing cost of living and most people have more pressing things to worry about than some old hack moaning about how he doesn’t feel like getting out of bed in the morning, but have Boris and Sajid taken their eyes off the ball now that, thankfully, far fewer people are dying of the virus?

If Covid is now leaving hundreds of thousands of us, perhaps including The Queen, with possible brain damage then shouldn’t this be a cause for more concern?