Los Angeles Times.Treatment with antiretroviral drugs suppresses the viral load in most people with HIV, but it did not do so for the South African woman, who was diagnosed with HIV in 2006.
As a result, she had a low level of T cells, which help the immune system fight off various infections, possibly including COVID-19.She tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 for 216 days and developed a moderate illness for which she was hospitalized for nine days last September.