The presence of underlying diseases of heart, lungs or any other major organs predispose patients to more severe infection and symptoms, (Representational image)

Heart patients don’t need to panic over Covid19. They just need to take simple precautions that will help them keep the infection at bay,” said Dr Harinder Singh Bedi, Director of Cardio-Vascular Sciences, while he was speaking at an informative talk on ‘Covid-19 and Heart Patients’ at a hospital in Mohali on Sunday. He added that, “The present challenge is that we don’t know much about virus.”

Talking about how Covid-19 can impact the heart, Dr Bedi informed that viruses can attack the heart and cause viral cardiomyopathies. “The flu virus has been widely used in rabbit models to study cardiomyopathy, so Covid-19 is possibly capable of damaging the pumping chambers of the heart. However, no such specific case has been reported so far. But patients with heart abnormalities are more susceptible to heart failure if they become infected with Covid-19,” he said.

The presence of underlying diseases of heart, lungs or any other major organs predispose patients to more severe infection and symptoms, he informed. However, that does not mean that people with heart diseases are more likely to contract the Covid-19. It just means that those are more likely to have complications once they do get it, he asserted.

“There is absolutely no reason to postpone elective or scheduled heart surgeries. At the same time, it is very important to note that patients should not proceed with surgery if they are experiencing any flu like symptoms like fever, cough and shortness of breath,” said Dr Bedi.