Introduction
In December 2019, a new coronavirus - the severe acute respiratory
syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) - has emerged in Wuhan, China and
was named COVID-19 by the WHO. The virus spread rapidly across
continents to cause a global pandemic. 1 Although the
virus affected all age groups, the incidence was particularly shifted
towards older age groups especially in those with underlying chronic
health conditions. Among these chronic health conditions, diabetes
mellitus in particular, appeared to be a major risk factor for both
COVID-19 infection and worse outcomes. Diabetes is already known to be
associated with increased mortality from any acute and chronic illness
including infection. 2 However, with this new
pandemic, the characteristics of patients with diabetes infected with
the COVID-19 virus have not been clearly defined. Therefore, it is not
yet known whether particular subgroups with diabetes are at increased
risk of COVID-19 infection. This manuscript aims to explore the
prevalence of diabetes in COVID-19 pandemic, characteristics of patients
with diabetes affected by COVID-19 and the effect of diabetes on
clinical outcomes.