A number of coronavirus survivors in Italy are suffering from debilitating symptoms weeks after they 'beat the virus' and tested negative for any traces of it.
Cases have arisen in one of the worst hit countries in Europe that suggests survivors face a new battle with health issues such as fatigue and breathing problems.
Italy was the first European country to be hit hard by Covid-19 cases with its healthcare system struggling to cope with the influx of cases and its large elderly population particularly affected.
It is now ahead of the UK, Spain, France and the US, with discovering the long-term effects suffered by those who beat the virus, New York Times reports.
Morena Colombi from Truccazzano, outside the northern city of Milan, was deemed coronavirus free after a six-week fight with the virus after she tested negative on March 16.
But weeks later she says she is nowhere near to being recovered as she is struggling with a cough, crippling fatigue, aching muscles and a shortness of breath.
The aftermath of the virus means the 59-year-old, who has returned to her job with a cosmetics company, is unable to even take a short walk.
She said: “I can’t get back into my natural rhythms.”
Many Italians have learnt that the infection can hang on for weeks, the symptoms can linger for weeks more, and full recovery can take longer still — if ever.
An estimated 219,814 people tested positive for coronavirus in Italy with 30,739 dying - the second highest number in Europe with the UK hitting the top spot.
An estimated 106,587 people in Italy recovered but such is the stubbornness of coronavirus and the long recovery time that some survivors and not only facing physical uncertainty but their are grappling with financial woes too.
Alessandro Venturi, the director of the San Matteo hospital in the Lombardy town of Pavia, said they have seen many cases where survivors face a long road to recovery.
This includes those who suffered lighter symptoms as their bodies struggle to return to normal as they struggle with post-symptoms including aching bones and an upset stomach.
He said: “It’s not the sickness that lasts for 60 days, it is the convalescence."
It's already well known that some people who contract Covid-19 can be asymptomatic, so they have few symptoms or none, while others become gravelly ill often with pneumonia.
However pneumonia damages the lungs, which can take months to heal, and doctors warn it may not be completely reversible.
Studies also claims the virus can cause kidney, heart, liver and neurological damage, often from secondary infections - it is unknown what the long term future is for sufferers.
Martina Sorlini, a 29-year-old math and physics high school teacher has suffered a fever since the beginning of March which she says 'never finishes'.
She also has to contend with a cough, sore throat, stomach aches and fatigues which makes it difficult for her to teach students online.
Dr Annalisa Malara, an intensive care physician in Codogno, southeast of Milan, who diagnosed Italy’s first case in February, said there was still no clear understanding of why the virus and its effects last such a long time.
Some say more research should be done to determine why.
In north Italy, the epicentre of the contagion in the nation, a partial lifting of the lockdown this month has allowed more family and friends to compare their different experiences.
Edmondo Cirielli, a MP for right-wing Brotherhood of Italy party, ran a fever and suffered cold-like symptoms in March.
He tested positive and believes he contracted it by touching an infected surface in the Parliament chamber.
He thought he would be fine but ended up in hospital with breathing difficulties but as it wasn't pneumonia he was discharged and went home to self-quarantine.
After 40 days of suffering debilitating fatigue, sore throat, diarrhoea and intense pain at the base of his neck that made it impossible to concentrate he tested negative so thought it was over.
But he continued to suffer from diarrhoea and went on to test positive which forced him back into isolation.
He said: “One day I was fine, the next bad. There was no building to a peak and then coming back down. It was up and down for a month."
Not everyone has access to testing, which has been imperfect, including 44-year-old Ingrid Magni who said she suffered three weeks of intense headaches.
She has instead taken an antibody test, which could be used to get an official swab test for the virus if antibodies are detected.
But the results have not come back so she has been unavailable to return to work until they do.
