The virus can cause lung scarring, nerve damage and psychological trauma, doctors say

Thousands of coronavirus victims who survive serious illness will suffer damage to their lungs, heart and other organs, needing up to 15 years for recovery, say intensive care specialists.

The damage done by the virus directly, plus the intensive medical procedures needed to save desperately ill patients, will leave people with lung scarring, nerve damage and psychological trauma, according to warnings from the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine (FICM), the professional body responsible for training intensive care doctors in the UK.

Its analysis of coronavirus cases in China and elsewhere shows that about 17% of people admitted to intensive care develop a condition called acute respiratory distress syndrome (Ards) — one of the most lethal conditions in medicine, with a mortality rate of about 40%.