Patients admitted to ICU with pneumonia related to SARS-CoV-2 have a higher mortality rate than critically ill patients in previous SARS outbreaks, Chinese doctors say.

The critical-care doctors reviewed 52 cases admitted to the Wuhan Jin Yin-tan hospital ICU between late December and late January and found that 62% died within 28 days.

In contrast, the comparable published mortality rate among critically ill SARS patients was 43% in a Canadian cohort and even lower in cohorts in Singapore and Hong Kong, they said.

Among the general population, the WHO estimated the mortality rate for COVID-19 was just 2% compared with 10% for SARS and 35% for MERS.