Findings from the World Heart Federation COVID-19 Study

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has presented an unprecedented global challenge to health care communities.

The pandemic continues to affect the lives of millions worldwide, with substantially growing numbers of infections and deaths in all countries. Although a large proportion of patients (~80%) with COVID-19 have mild to moderate symptoms, the case-fatality rate is highly variable. The mortality rate among adults with COVID-19 ranges between 2–7% overall, and up to 20% among the elderly. Prior studies suggested that people with established cardiovascular disease (CVD), or those at high CVD risk, develop a more severe course of COVID-19 needing admission to an intensive care unit (ICU) and experience higher mortality. Furthermore, recent reports suggest an excess of cardiovascular complications among COVID-19 patients, including acute coronary events, myocardial injury, and heart failure.

The full paper is available here