PREVALENCE OF COVID-19 AND CARDIAC PATIENTS

A new strain of coronaviruses emerged in Wuhan, China in December 2019, and soon started getting infected many with the unknown pneumonia-like illness (1). It was later named Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), as the signs and symptoms shown by the disease were similar to the 2003 SARS outbreak in Taiwan, China (2). Thereafter, it spread rapidly, and was soon declared as a pandemic (1). Classically, coronavirus disease (COVID-19) presents with pneumonia-like symptoms including fever, cough, pharyngodynia, and fatigue (2); however, in some cases, signs of cardiac damage and myocyte-necrosis have been noticed after COVID-19 (1). Therefore, it is crucial to establish the relationship between the two and increase its awareness amongst the frontline healthcare workers, and in particular, cardiologists.