Wuhan, China

Nearly half of the Covid patients who were hospitalised in 2020 in China’s Wuhan city are now facing serious and prolonged health issues, a study has revealed.

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Wuhan was the epicentre of coronavirus when coronavirus pandemic started in December 2019. However, the city was seen celebrating their freedom post-Covid in 2021 as the world struggled to contain the Delta variant.

Now, almost a year after another Covid surge in Wuhan, the patients are still struggling with muscle fatigue, breathing problems, brain fog and depression.

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"Our study is the largest to date to assess the health outcomes of hospitalised COVID-19 survivors after 12 months of becoming ill. While most had made a good recovery, health problems persisted in some patients, especially those who had been critically ill during their hospital stay," said Bin Cao, a professor at National Centre for Respiratory Medicine at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing. "Our findings suggest that recovery for some patients will take longer than one year, and this should be taken into account when planning delivery of healthcare services post-pandemic."

The study was conducted by a group of scientists from Wuhan and Beijing, and they studied the difference in health of people who did not get infected by coronavirus and those who have recovered from the deadly virus.

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Scientists found out that recovered Covid patients had lingering impacts, with some people still fighting to stay healthy.

"Though most symptoms had resolved by 12 months, around one half of survivors still experienced at least one ongoing symptom (most commonly fatigue or muscle weakness), and one in three patients still experienced shortness of breath," the study said.

Experts studied the impact of Covid on 1,276 people who had been treated for Covid at Jin Yin-Tan hospital in Wuhan between January and May 2020. A contrast was drawn in the health condition of these patients at six and 12 months.

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At least one in three Covid patients experienced breathing problems and lung impairments remained a constant threat for the patients who had been severely infected by coronavirus.

"Fatigue or muscle weakness was the most commonly reported symptom with around half of patients experiencing this at six months… Almost one third of patients reported experiencing shortness of breath at 12 months, which was more prevalent in patients who had been the most severely ill and had been on a ventilator during their time in hospital," the report read.