Catching the Coronavirus: Who Is More at Risk of Severe Illness?

2. Individuals who have heart disease

The same Chinese report found that the mortality rate was 10.5 percent in people infected with COVID-19 who also had conditions that affect the heart. About 6 percent of people with COVID-19 and hypertension (chronic high blood pressure) have also died.

“The virus has the potential to attack not only heart muscle, but blood vessels as well,” says Robert Glatter, MD, emergency physician with Lenox Hill Hospital, New York City.

According to the American Heart Association (AHA), 40 percent of hospitalized patients infected with COVID-19 had cardiovascular disease or cerebrovascular disease, such as stroke.

The AHA also notes that the coronavirus may disrupt plaques (basically fatty deposits) that have built up in arteries and this would eventually raise the risk of a heart attack.