Patients with pre-existing cardiovascular disease have a five-fold greater risk of death from COVID-19 than the overall infected population, leading Australian cardiologists say.

Studies also show these patients have triple the risk of developing severe illness from the coronavirus, prompting calls for special precautions to be taken in primary care and in hospitals to minimise the risk to other cardiac patients and health workers.

In a joint consensus statement published in the Medical Journal of Australia, leading cardiologists warn changes to usual testing and treatment protocols might be necessary to protect patients and staff, including deferral of invasive procedures among some patients with COVID-19.

Written by clinicians from the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand (CSANZ) and the Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons (ANZSCTS), the statement calls for changes including use of telehealth and management of more patients in outpatient settings.