CVD services need to actively manage COVID-19 threat, experts say

A new consensus document sets out the evidence for best protecting patients and staff
Clare Pain
hospital corridor with Coronavirus particle images superimposed

Patients with underlying CVD have the highest risk of mortality from COVID-19 and cardiac services need to put strategies in place to protect them, leading cardiologists warn.

People with CVD are 5-10 times more likely to die from coronavirus infection than their peers without the disease, according to a new consensus statement on the practical implications of the pandemic, endorsed by peak cardiac clinical societies in Australia and New Zealand.

“High quality cardiac care must minimise risk of viral transmission to patients and healthcare workers,” the authors write in the Medical Journal of Australia.

Clinical judgment will be needed to decide whether patients should undergo elective surgery, depending on whether the benefits outweigh the risk of nosocomial infection, they say.