It depends on the definition of long covid. A high proportion of those hospitalised with it will feel the after effects for a long time after leaving hospital, some will have permanent organ damage.
A lot of people who catch it, and don't need hospital treatment, will feel a bit rough for a few weeks - tired, achey, cough, loss of sense of smell/taste etc. Probably ok to cope with normal everyday life, but conscious that they don't feel 100%. Not that different to catching flu, or a really bad cold etc.
The number experiencing debilitating after-effects following mild infection that last for months is the bit that gets argued over. It's hard to unravel this aspect. Some people are experiencing serious longterm issues (the sort that interfere with home life or work) but it's really not clear if more people are falling into this category after a fight with covid than experience it after catching other circulating viruses. However some people will be looking at other medical issues, including stress related problems and blaming it on the infection.
Basically long covid exists. Symptoms and prevalence are still being debated. The scary headlines on how common it is don't always tell the whole story.