Researchers in the UK will present data to a European infectious diseases group outlining the case of a man they say tested positive to COVID-19 for 10 months.

The 72-year-old has described how he became what is thought to be the world’s most persistent coronavirus patient after testing positive for the infection for 305 days.

Retired driving instructor Dave Smith, from Bristol in England’s southwest, said he was “ready to give up” on life.

He had the disease for more than 10 months in what experts say is the longest-ever recorded persistent infection with the virus.