Women aged 50-60 are most likely to experience ‘long COVID-19’ along with those who had five or more symptoms in the early days of their illness, a UK analysis shows.

Being older, female and having more severe disease raised the risk of developing long-term coronavirus, or those patients displaying symptoms for eight weeks or more, according to the study that has not been peer-reviewed.

UK researchers used data from 4182 COVID Symptom Study app users who tested positive for COVID-19, to determine which cases are most likely to go onto experience ongoing effects.

The researchers, from King’s College London, said one in 20 people with COVID-19 were likely to suffer symptoms for eight weeks or more, and one in eight had symptoms that lasted four weeks.