Two Cases of COVID-19-Related Deaths Unaccounted for: A Call for Action

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) high-risk survivors experience long-term COVID-19 symptoms. Hence, these individuals require early and ubiquitous respiratory rehabilitation to avoid malnutrition. We report the case of a 93-year-old woman who recovered from moderate II severity (pneumonia requiring oxygen). The patient, after prolonged hospitalization, demonstrated low severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infectivity and showed no COVID-19 respiratory symptoms for more than 72 hours. Subsequently, the patient became debilitated and lost her appetite without dysphagia, dysgeusia, and smell disorder, developed nosocomial pneumonia as a sequela of acute COVID-19 and died. We also report the second case of an 84-year-old man diagnosed with moderate II COVID-19 severity. After recovery, the patient was frail due to the previous onset of COVID-19 and worsened during his stay at home, losing appetite without dysphagia, dysgeusia, and smell disorder, and dying of senility as the official cause. Recovered COVID-19 appears to be a health risk by malnutrition without anorexia and depression, among other conditions. A proven rehabilitation program for each phase of the disease is required for better lung function and nutritional status.