The roulette wheel of infection that determines which COVID-19 patients live and die has gripped the world in fear, but researchers are looking into another insidious danger — that the disease could be inflicting lasting, even permanent, damage on its victims. Peter Fimwrite writes in the San Francisco Chronicle that infectious disease specialists have learned that the health problems caused by the coronavirus sometimes linger for months, raising fears that the virus may have long-term consequences for people’s health.