COVID 19 pandemic: Its impact on cardiovascular training and care

COVID-19 Cardiovascular training and careSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was first reported in December 2019 in Hubei province, China.World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 as a global pandemic on March 11, 2020. 1 The ongoing pandemic has infected more than 63 million people worldwide 2 and more than 13 million people in India, 3 which is the second worst affected country, as of November 29th 2020.COVID-19 pandemic has immensely affected the overall health care system besides its enormous direct impact on morbidity and mortality.Majority of healthcare systems started adopting unprecedented measures to minimise disease transmission and combating the increase of COVID-19 patients.OPD consultations, diagnostic investigations, and non-essential procedures got affected as has been evidenced all across India and the world, with significant reductions in hospitalisations for cardiac illness and procedures.Governments and health care authorities worldwide are recommending the deferral of elective procedures in order to preserve health staff and hospital resources.4e8 Despite the vast improvements in the medical field including improvement in the overall economy and technology, the dismal trend that the COVID-19 pandemic has shown in the 21st century is quite similar to what the world had experienced a century back during the Spanish flu pandemic.A century ago an estimated one third of the world's population (or >500 million persons) were infected, case-fatality rates were >2.5%, and total deaths were estimated at >50 million.9e15 Even after 100 years of past experience, the COVID-19 pandemic has devastating effect on entire medical infrastructure of many countries including developed ones.