key: cord-1028676-rzy6vwuq authors: Finer, Nick; Garnett, Sarah P.; Bruun, Jens M. title: COVID‐19 and obesity date: 2020-04-27 journal: Clin Obes DOI: 10.1111/cob.12365 sha: 6b693300a7b552fd94d883508d8d5fdf275c83b4 doc_id: 1028676 cord_uid: rzy6vwuq nan It is clear from this evidence that those with obesity, and particularly its complications, such as diabetes and hypertension, may be more liable to develop a more serious illness, requiring hospital admission and probably invasive ventilation. 4 Additionally the Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre (ICNARC) in the United Kingdom reported a disproportionate number of those critically ill with COVID-19 were from black, Asian or minority ethnic backgrounds -nearly a third compared to the 13% BAME in the general population. 5 Whether this is driven by the greater prevalence of and risks from obesity (driving diabetes and hypertension) in such populations is not known. Nor do we yet have data on outcomes for those with obesity and less serious COVID-19 disease in terms of progression to more serious severity requiring critical care or mortality. Such data will be important to fully understand the mortality risk to those with obesity, particularly with the knowledge that critical care survival may be higher in those with modest degrees of obesity. 6 However, perhaps a more pressing concern is that highlighted in the recent editorial in Obesity, namely, that appropriate resources for those with (severe) obesity are often inadequate in hospitals 7 ; for example, the access to imaging may be limited by the lack of machines able to accommodate patients with severe obesity. 8 If the more complex lifting and handling demands of those with obesity 9 are also factored in, there is a real risk that people with severe obesity may be seriously disadvantaged regarding health care. The pandemic may expose the failure of healthcare systems and providers to meet the needs of our changing population. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on submission processing and journal production has resulted in a smaller than usual edition of Clinical Obesity. World Health Organization. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Pandemic Hospitalization rates and characteristics of patients hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed coronavirus disease 2019-COVID-NET, 14 states Factors associated with hospitalization and critical illness among 4,103 patients with COVID-19 disease in New York High prevalence of obesity in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) requiring invasive mechanical ventilation. Obesity (Silver Spring) ICNARC report on COVID-19 in critical care 17 The paradox prevails: outcomes are better in critically ill obese patients regardless of the comorbidity burden COVID 19 and the patient with obesity-the Editors speak out. Obesity (Silver Spring) Technical challenges of imaging & image-guided interventions in obese patients Moving the bariatric patient