text: The occurrence of long COVID a rapid review The long term effects of the severe acute respiratory syndrome SARS coronavirus 2 SARS CoV 2 are not well understood This rapid review was aimed at synthesizing evidence on the long term effects of the SARS CoV 2 infection among survivors We considered both randomised controlled trials and non randomised studies eligible for inclusion in this review The following databases were searched PubMed Scopus Cochrane library Google Scholar and the World Health Organization WHO COVID 19 database The reference lists of all the included studies were also searched Two authors independently screened the search outputs and reviewed full texts of potentially eligible articles Data extraction was done by one author and checked by a second author A meta analysis was not conducted due to heterogeneity among the included studies Results are presented narratively Eleven studies met our inclusion criteria All these studies were conducted in high income countries Study findings demonstrate that COVID 19 survivors can experience persistent symptoms after recovering from their initial illness especially among previously hospitalized persons The majority of symptoms reported were fatigue shortness of breath cough and sleep disorders Mental conditions such as depression and anxiety disorders were also reported In conclusion this study showed that COVID 19 survivors can experience persistent symptoms after recovering from their initial illness Therefore there is a need for a long term follow up of COVID 19 patients and rehabilitation services for survivors More research is needed in this area especially in Africa 