Introduction 
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a highly contagious disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. It primarily affects the respiratory system with possible complications such as acute respiratory disease syndrome (ARDS), multiple organ dysfunctions, and sepsis1. Other commonly reported symptoms include cough, low grade fever, fatigue, shortness of breath, chest pain, headaches, neurocognitive difficulties, thromboembolic conditions, depression and other mental health conditions2,3. Although knowledge of the course and symptom manifestation of the disease is still evolving and trials are ongoing4,5, of concern is that individuals severely affected by COVID-19 disease could require intensive care and may rely on mechanical ventilator support for a considerably extended period2,6,7.
Typically, survivors of critical illness are often faced with persistent and potentially long-lasting problems, including a decline in physical function, poor mental health and reduced cognition8,9. This constellation of new or worsening physical, cognitive and psychosocial impairments in critical illness survivors has been described as Post Intensive Care Syndrome (PICS)10. Intensive care requirement and disease nature of COVID-19 suggests that survivors are a high risk group for PICS6.
The first case of COVID-19 in Africa was confirmed in Egypt on the14th of February 2020. Since then, the numbers of COVID-19 cases have continued to increase with a higher incidence in countries like South Africa, Nigeria and Algeria11. With this increase in COVID-19 cases in Africa, prolonged stay in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) among individuals with severe COVID-19 infection is inevitable. As such, there is need to create awareness for clinicians, especially in developing regions like Africa while making explicit rehabilitation recommendations for the trajectory of care for critically ill COVID-19 patients12. This is envisaged to help in optimizing their survivorship experience.
In this editorial, we provided a brief overview of the clinical features of PICS, and highlighted the strategies that the clinicians could adopt in managing COVID-19 patients with PICS.