COVID-19 - Implications for Patients with Heart Failure: The Korean Society of Heart Failure's Clinical Recommendations.

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).1) After first being identified in 2019 in Wuhan, China, COVID-19 has spread rapidly to other countries, resulting in the ongoing 2019–2020 coronavirus pandemic (Table 1, Figure 1).2-4) It has become a global health problem with severe socio-economic impact.3) According to the World Health Organization (WHO) report, people over the age of 60 years are considered a high-risk group if they have an underlying disease, including cardiovascular, respiratory, and metabolic disease.1)2)5) However, patients in the high-risk group often avoid the use of medical facilities or have difficulties due to concerns about COVID-19.4)6) In April 2020, the Korean Society of Heart Failure released clinical recommendations regarding COVID-19 infection in heart failure (HF) patients.