UK patient had COVID-19 for 505 days straight, study shows

By LAURA UNGAR
AP Science Writer

Scientists say a U.K. patient with a severely weakened immune system had COVID-19 for almost a year and a half. The case underscores the importance of protecting vulnerable people from the coronavirus. There’s no way to know for sure whether it was the longest-lasting COVID-19 infection because not everyone gets tested, but at 505 days, it seems to be a record. Researchers plan to present several “persistent” COVID-19 cases this weekend at an infectious diseases meeting in Portugal. Their study investigated which mutations arise — and whether variants evolve — in people with super long infections. These cases are different from long COVID.