Are Hypertension Patients More Vulnerable to COVID-19?

As Singapore reopens and life enters the new normal, understanding what is safe has never been more important – or more confusing. Here is one question and answer from health talks that the Singapore Heart Foundation has held in the past few months, to help you navigate pandemic life safely with confidence.

In view of the current COVID-19 pandemic, at least 13 out of 28 deaths in Singapore had a history of hypertension. Does that mean people with hypertension are more vulnerable to getting COVID-19?

The association between hypertension and COVID-19 is a very interesting one. Based on evidence, we now know that many of the cardiac conditions confer an unfavourable outcome in patients with COVID, and hypertension has been found to be one of them. But I do not think that it is hypertension itself that causes patients to be sick after a COVID-19 infection, but rather due to the patient’s age and comorbidity. In other words, a patient with hypertension is likely to be older, and have other health conditions like diabetes, cholesterol, obesity, and so forth. It is this combination of risk factors that leads to the unfavourable outcome in hypertension patients catching the COVID-19 infection.

– Prof Tan Huay Cheem, Chairman, Singapore Heart Foundation; and Director, National University Heart Centre, Singapore

Find out more about the relation between Hypertension and COVID:19 here: