SINGAPORE - Those who have recovered from Covid-19 but suffer persistent symptoms such as breathlessness can look forward to help from an app to recover through exercise.

Dubbed MoveVid, the app provides patients with a customised eight-week exercise programme aimed at helping them return to their previous levels of physical activity. 

Paired with a wearable pulse oximeter - which measures the heart rate and blood oxygen levels of patients - the app features an animated character who demonstrates how to perform certain exercises such as walking and squats.

The app will also prompt users to rest if they feel unwell or out of breath, and provides infographics and guides so patients can learn how to exercise safely by themselves.

It is expected to be available to the public by the first quarter of 2023.

The persistence of symptoms such as fatigue or shortness of breath for three months or more following a coronavirus infection is sometimes referred to as long Covid.

In April, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said in a written reply to parliamentary questions that his ministry does not track the number of patients with persistent symptoms after Covid-19.

However, a study conducted in the Netherlands by researchers from the University of Groningen and published in The Lancet medical journal earlier this year suggested that as many as one in eight adults with Covid-19 may experience long Covid.

MoveVid was developed by a team of two doctors and four therapists from Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH), together with local start-up Taggle Health.

A pilot study to test the safety and effectiveness of the app’s exercise programme began in May 2022, with participants in the process of being recruited. The aim is to eventually have at least 10 suitable participants.

The app was first conceived in 2020, when pandemic restrictions meant there wa...