LONDON • British singer Marianne Faithfull has been left with breathing and other problems months after being treated for Covid-19 in hospital, the Guardian newspaper reported last Friday.

Faithfull, 74, said she had suffered lingering symptoms after contracting the virus during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic in Britain last April.

"Three things: the memory, fatigue and my lungs are still not okay. I have to have oxygen and all that stuff," she said, adding that the side effects were "awful".

A high number of Covid-19 patients has experienced lasting effects from the virus after an initial recovery with a lingering disease known as "long Covid".

Symptoms range from memory problems, shortness of breath, loss of taste or smell and post-traumatic stress disorder, and some patients can be left bedridden for months.

Faithfull, a 1960s icon who catapulted to fame at age 17 singing As Tears Go By - written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones - was discharged from hospital in London on April 22.

Given her age, well-documented battles with drug addiction and health issues, she said she was particularly vulnerable to Covid-19 and came close to death. "All I know is that I was in a very dark place - presumably, it was death."

She said she later learnt that at one stage, hospital doctors were advising only palliative care for her.

Her musical collaborator, Australian musician Warren Ellis, said her chances of survival had seemed slim. "She wasn't actually meant to make it through," he said.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE