Turk sets unenviable COVID record by testing positive for 14 straight months

Muzaffer Kayasan, a Turkish man who has taken 78 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) tests and every one has come back positive, leaving him isolated from his family for 14 straight months, checks his test results on a computer in Istanbul, Turkey February 10, 2022. REUTERS/Umit Bektas

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - When Muzaffer Kayasan first caught COVID-19, he thought he was destined to die since he was already suffering from leukemia. Fourteen months and 78 straight positive tests later, he is still alive - and still battling to shake off the infection.

Kayasan, 56, has Turkey's longest recorded continuous COVID-19 infection, doctors say, possibly due to a weakened immune system from the cancer. Despite being in and out of hospital since November 2020, his spirits have been high.