Background Little is known about long-term recovery from COVID-19 disease, especially in non-hospitalized individuals. In this longitudinal study we present symptoms registered during the acute phase as well as long COVID, i.e. long-lasting COVID-19 symptoms, in patients from the Faroe Islands. Methods All consecutive patients with confirmed RT-PCR testing from April to June 2020 were invited to participate in this study for the assessment of long COVID. Demographic and clinical characteristics and self-reported acute and persistent symptoms were assessed using a standardized detailed questionnaire administered at enrollment and at repeated phone interviews in the period 22 th April to Aug 16 th. Results Of the 180 participants (96.3% of the 187 eligible COVID-19 patients), 53.1% reported persistence of at least one symptom after a mean of 125 days after symptoms onset, 33.3% reported one or two symptoms and 19.4% three or more symptoms. At the last follow-up, 46.7% were asymptomatic compared with 4.4 % during the acute phase. The most prevalent persistent symptoms were fatigue, loss of smell and taste, and arthralgias. Conclusions Our results show that it might take months for symptoms to resolve, even among non-hospitalized persons with mild illness course in the acute phase. Continued monitoring for long COVID is needed.

Recurrent familial intrahepatic cholestasis is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by episodes of severe pruritus and jaundice lasting for weeks to months without extrahepatic bile duct obstruction. Symptom-free intervals may last for months to years, and chronic liver damage does not develop. We recently studied four of the five patients from the Faeroe Islands described by us 30 years ago (one had recently died) and an additional five patients that were identified after the initial report. The episodes of cholestasis were more frequent and severe in patients with early onset, but tended to reduce in frequency with age. The youngest patient, aged 25 years, who had had 16 episodes each lasting about 6 months, had a liver transplant after which no further episodes were recorded (1 year after surgery). Signs of chronic liver disease were absent in all patients. The FIC1 gene was investigated for mutations in the surviving patients. A single mutation (I661T) was found on both chromosomes in all nine patients, indicating that they are genetically identical for the disease-causing defect. Nevertheless, considerable differences among patients were observed clinically. (HEPATOLOGY 1999;29:506-508.)

We conducted a nationwide study of the prevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection in the Faroe Islands. Of 1,075 randomly selected participants, 6 (0.6%) tested seropositive for antibodies to the virus. Adjustment for test sensitivity and specificity yielded a 0.7% prevalence. Our findings will help us evaluate our public health response.

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Symptoms of long COVID were found in 38% of 170 patients followed median 22.6 months. Most prevalent symptoms were fatigue, affected taste and smell, and difficulties remembering and concentrating. Predictors for long COVID were older age and number of symptoms in the acute phase. Long COVID may take many months, maybe years to resolve.