COVID-19 Clinical Guidance For the Cardiovascular Care Team

Abstract

Current COVID-19 Clinical Context • The overall case fatality rate (CFR) of COVID-19 based on published reports remains low at 2.3%, with data indicating lower overall Chinese mortality outside of the outbreak epicenter in Hubei, Chinai • Beyond China, real-time reporting indicates CFRs between 2.7% (Iran) and 0.5% (South Korea); however, this information is provisional and likely to changeii • More than 80% of infected patients experience mild symptoms and recover without intensive medical interventioni • However, morbidity and mortality increase significantly with age, rising to 8.0% among patients 70-79 and 14.8% in patients over 80 in large-scale Chinese case reportingi • Published case reports from the Chinese Centers for Disease Control indicate patients with underlying comorbid conditions have a heighted risk for contracting COVID-19 and a worse prognosis; depending on the report, between 25% and 50% of COVID-19 patients present with underlying conditionsi,iii • Case fatality rates for comorbid patients are materially higher than the average population:i o Cancer: 5.6% o Hypertension: 6.0% o Chronic respiratory disease: 6.3% o Diabetes: 7.3% o Cardiovascular disease: 10.5%.