n the waning phase of the pandemic, beginning on April 21, 2020, the Fondazione

Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS in Rome, Italy, established a postacute

outpatient service for individuals discharged from the hospital after recovery from
COVID-19. All patients who met World Health Organization criteria for discontinuation of
quarantine (no fever for 3 consecutive days, improvement in other symptoms, and 2
negative test results for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 [SARS-CoV-
2] 24 hours apart) were followed up. At enrollment in the study, real-time reverse
transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction for SARS-CoV-2 was performed and patients
with a negative test result were included.

Patients were offered a comprehensive medical assessment with detailed history and
physical examination. Data on all clinical characteristics, including clinical and
pharmacological history, lifestyle factors, vaccination status, and body measurements,
were collected in a structured electronic data collection system. The COVID-19
postacute outpatient service is currently active, and further details about the patient
evaluation protocol are described elsewhere.5Many patients, after several months of
recovering from the virus, still present symptoms, which include a feeling of crippling
anxiety, chest pain, recurring headaches, persistent loss of smell and taste, breathing
difficulties, sore throat and even a mild cough.

The issue is serious enough for Delhi to run a post-COVID-19 clinic, at the Rajiv Gandhi
Super Speciality Hospital. This clinic offers OPD services to those who have recovered
from the disease but are still complaining of other side-effects. Several patients, who
have recovered, have been visiting with lingering complaints. The Delhi government is
also considering opening up a dedicated post-recovery hospital to better handle such
cases.

Internationally, according to a report published in the Journal of the American Medical

Association, an Italian study involving 143 recovered patients two months after the
onset of the first symptom, found over 85 per cent had at least one symptom. According
to Chinese media reports, a study involving 100 recovered patients in Wuhan, where the
pandemic began last year, had discovered continued lung damage in 90 per cent of the
subjects.

Long-lasting after-effects of COVID