Results
A total of 39 cases reported at the NWGH & RC during the specified study period. Their mean age was 52(15.8) years and female to male ratio was 1:1.29 (Males: 43.6% and Females: 56.4%). All patients in the study developed cough. The next most common symptom was shortness of breath in 37 patients (95%), followed by fever in 36 (92.3%), chest pain and sore throat in 31 (79.5%) each, Table 1 .
The different co-morbidities amongst patients and the patients’ outcomes are presented in Table 2. Hypertension [21 (53.8%)] was reported as the most common comorbidity followed by diabetes [11 (28.2%)] and chronic kidney disease [3 (7.7%)]. Smoking history was positive for 3 (7.7%) patients. Amongst all participants, 30 (76.9%) survived and were discharged while 09 (23.1%) passed away (Table 2 ).
Table 3 presents the results of biochemical analysis performed on blood samples collected on the day of admission. Mean Hb level was 13.19 (2.12) g/dl. Both the pO2 and pCO2levels were below the normal reference range (<83mmHg and <40mmHg respectively). CRP [12.84 (9.44) mg/dl], ESR [45.60 (26.11) mm/1st hour] and Troponin I [2411.59 (9903.25) ng/l] were also raised above the normal reference values. Real time Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) was positive in 36 (92.3%) patients as shown in Figure 1 .
Clinical characteristics were compared between the survivors and non-survivors (Table 4 ). There was no significant difference between the age (p=0.8), gender distribution (p=0.6), smoking status (p=0.5), length of hospital stay (p=0.6) and duration of symptoms (p=0.2). Comparison of different comorbidities showed that although the proportion of patients having respiratory failure was higher in non-survivors than in the survivors, the difference was not statistically significant [n (%): 9 (100) vs. 21 (70.00), p = 0.1, respectively). In contrast, the proportion of patients who developed renal failure (p=0.02, secondary infection (p<0.001) and septic shock (p=0.03) was significantly higher amongst the non-survivors compared to that amongst survivors. Furthermore, a significantly higher proportion of non-survivors required Ionotropic support (P<0.001) and ventilator support (p=0.001) than the survivors while a similar proportion of non-survivors and survivors required oxygen support (p=0.6).