Got Heart Disease? Study Urges Social Distancing, Not Medical Distancing

As long as the novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic keeps raging, try to postpone your heart attack.

That's the message from a new analysis published Friday by JAMA Cardiology.

People who have a severe heart attack are more than twice as likely to die during the COVID-19 pandemic than before the disease hit the US.

Those who suffer a type of heart attack in which one of the heart's major arteries is blocked were 2.4 times more likely to die during the pandemic period.

UPI reports the researchers say that's because it's likely they put off seeking medical care.

These trends could be the result of hospital efforts to maintain bed availability.

Another contributing factor could be patients requesting early discharge, due to fears of contracting COVID-19 while in the hospital.