Beijing, Aug 31 (IANS): A Covid-19 patient from China has left the hospital after the longest-ever stay on a controversial life support machine, a report said on Monday.

The 62-year-old man spent 111 days on an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine, almost twice as long as previous patients.

The patient was discharged from a hospital in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province last week after treatment for about seven months.

The man was admitted to a hospital in late January.

When his condition deteriorated, he was transferred to the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University in early February, the hospital said.

The patient was supported by extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) therapy for 111 days starting from February 9, reports Xinhua news agency.

According to Zhong Nanshan, a renowned respiratory disease expert, the patient was obese and had several underlying diseases like hypertension and sleep apnea syndrome, which made treatment difficult.

After 111 days of multiple treatments, he was taken off ECMO on May 29 and gradually started recovering in the following days.

"The critical care team worked very hard during the treatment process. For the sake of people's health and lives, we will do whatever it takes as long as there is a glimmer of hope," Zhong said.