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.