The coronavirus that causes COVID-19 may linger in the semen of patients, even in those deemed to have recovered from the disease, according to a study published Thursday in JAMA Network Open, a peer-reviewed journal.

Chinese researchers at Shangqiu Municipal Hospital in the central Henan province studied 38 COVID-19 patients and found six had traces of the virus in their semen. Two of them were said to have recovered.

It is unclear, however, whether the new coronavirus can be sexually transmitted. (Image: People Visual)