Turkish man Muzaffer Kayasan may hold the record for the longest period of infection for any COVID-19 patient, reported Daily Sabah.
The 56-year-old has tested positive for the deadly disease 78 times since 2020 and is seeking a way out of his situation, which has confined him to his home and hospitals for a total of 14 months.
Kayasan, a leukemia patient, was first diagnosed with COVID-19 in November 2020 and was hospitalized.
He was discharged from the hospital after a brief treatment period and as his illness became less severe. He returned his home in Istanbul’s Sarıyer district, awaiting full recovery in self-isolation. But it was only the beginning of his confinement. Self-isolation is terminated after two weeks, a period recently reduced for coronavirus patients, if they test negative.
But to his chagrin, all 78 tests he was subject to showed Kayasan was still COVID-19 positive.
He spent nine months in the hospital and another five months at home in self-isolation.