More than half of patients and staff with COVID-19 monitored by an Irish hospital suffered persistent fatigue in the aftermath of the initial disease, according to a new study highlighting the "significant burden" of lingering symptoms.

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It comes as patient groups and doctors call for more research into the medium- and long-term effects of the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, which has sickened more than 30 million people across the world and killed at least 943,000.

"Whilst the presenting features of SARS-CoV-2 infection have been well-characterised, the medium- and long-term consequences of infection remain unexplored," said Liam Townsend, of St James's Hospital and Trinity Translational Medicine Institute at Trinity College Dublin.