LongCovid is no longer a mystery. New research is revealing key drivers of the condition, including evidence strongly suggesting that patients with LongCovid do not fully clear the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Instead, the virus may persist in tissue where it continues to provoke the immune system. This could drive a wide range of downstream consequences such as blood clotting, neuroinflammation, and neuropathy. The persistence of SARS-CoV-2 in tissue is called a viral reservoir.

The LongCovid Research Consortium has established a comprehensive research program on LongCovid disease mechanisms, with a focus on viral reservoir. The program includes scientists and clinicians from institutions including Harvard Medical School, University of California San Francisco, the J. Craig Venter Institute, Johns Hopkins, University of Pennsylvania, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Cardiff University and Yale University.