Clinical Outcomes of paTients pREsenting to HArare COVID-19 CenTer of Excellence With SARS-CoV-2 Infection - (TREAT Study)

Rationale:

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a novel coronavirus first identified in December of 2019 in Wuhan, China. Since the first case of COVID-19 was diagnosed in 2019, the number of cases has exponentially increased globally. As of December 16th 2021, there have been over 270 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and over 5.3 million deaths from COVID-19 across the world. Zimbabwe is one of the countries in Southern Africa affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. World Health Organization (WHO) recommended treatment with IL-6 receptor blockers for patients with severe or critical COVID-19 disease in addition to the previous recommendation of systemic corticosteroids.

Primary objectives

1. To describe the clinical course and outcomes of patients admitted to the Harare Teaching Hospital - Parirenyatwa General Hospital with SARS-CoV-2 infection.

2. Clinical course includes disease severity, use of oxygen, ICU admission, mechanical ventilation, treatments received, and duration of care.

3. Outcomes include death, discharged or still hospitalized.

4. Among discharged, outcomes will include readmission, persistent symptoms or recovery at 3 months post diagnosis.

5. To determine individual-level factors associated with clinical course and disease outcome including but not limited to demographics, population (healthy adults, children, pregnant women), comorbidities (i.e. HIV, TB, diabetes, cardiovascular disease [CVD], obesity), SARS-CoV-2 vaccine status, lab/medical history, COVID-19 treatment, and disease severity at presentation.