Around half of the patients hospitalised with Covid-19 in the Chinese city of Wuhan in 2020 had health problems including muscle fatigue, shortness of breath and depression 12 months after their discharge, a year-long study has found.

Overall, their health was weaker a year after recovery compared to those who were not infected with the virus, a study published in the medical journal Lancet said on Friday.

The study conducted on recovered patients highlights the lingering impact of Covid-19 in some patients, sometimes lasting for months, though most recover fully.

The study done by Chinese scientists from Beijing and Wuhan assessed health outcomes at six and 12 months for 1,276 Covid-19 patients treated at Jin Yin-Tan hospital in Wuhan between January and May 2020.

Meanwhile, a federal prosecutor is accusing Argentine President Alberto Fernández of apparently violating his own pandemic restrictions decree by joining a dozen other people at his wife’s birthday party in July last year.

The action by prosecutor Ramiro González means Fernández could face a criminal investigation.

New Zealand’s government has extended a strict nationwide lockdown through Tuesday as it tries to quash its first outbreak of the coronavirus in six months.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Friday the government expects to keep Auckland, where most of the cases have been found, in full lockdown for at least two more weeks.

But she expects most other parts of the country can ease restrictions slightly from Wednesday.

Clarify shoot-on-sight orders, UN tells N Korea

United Nations human rights investigators have asked North Korea to clarify whether it has ordered troops to shoot-on-sight any trespassers who cross its northern border in violation of the country’s pandemic closure since last year.

They were referring to a report by a news site focused on North Korea, Daily NK, which published a photo of what it said was a poster describing an August 2020 proclamation prohibiting acts that impede the closure of the northern border.

(With agency inputs)