“What we hypothesize is that there’s residual virus somewhere in the body, but it’s not detected by a nasal swab. theorize ... the COVID virus that remains hidden in the body post-initial infection.”
and yet, not one iota of actual evidence is presented in the entire article to support that hypothesis ... all they did was show that T-cells are overactive against covid-19 ... so, it’s just as likely that the T-cells are activated against some protein from the virus that remains in the body ... or possibly even active against a natural, endogenous protein SIMILAR to a covid-19 protein ...
An antiviral wouldn’t likely help against a non-viral entity, yet, antivirals did help.
You have a good point under other circumstances, though.
Also, do note they said autopsies find a lot of the virus all over the body, in long-termers.