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Abstract Aims The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) has spread rapidly around the globe, causing significant morbidity and mortality. This study aims to describe electrocardiographic (ECG) characteristics of COVID‐19 patients and to identify ECG parameters that are associated with cardiac involvement. Methods and results The study included patients who were hospitalized with COVID‐19 diagnosis and had cardiac biomarker assessments and simultaneous 12‐lead surface ECGs. Sixty‐three hospitalized patients (median 53 [inter‐quartile range, 43–65] years, 76.2% male) were enrolled, including patients with (n = 23) and without (n = 40) cardiac injury. Patients with cardiac injury were older, had more pre‐existing co‐morbidities, and had higher mortality than those without cardiac injury. They also had prolonged QTc intervals and more T wave changes. Logistic regression model identified that the number of abnormal T waves (odds ratio (OR), 2.36 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.38–4.04], P = 0.002) and QTc interval (OR, 1.31 [95% CI, 1.03–1.66], P = 0.027) were independent indicators for cardiac injury. The combination model of these two parameters along with age could well discriminate cardiac injury (area the under curve 0.881, P

The total number of cumulative cases and deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 is still increasing worldwide. Although many countries have actively implemented vaccination strategies to curb the epidemic, there is no specific efficient therapeutic drug for this virus to effectively reduce deaths. Therefore, the underappreciated macromolecular compounds have become the spotlight of research. Furthermore, the medicinal compounds in plants that provide myriad possibilities to treat human diseases have become of utmost importance. Experience indicates that Traditional Chinese medicine effectively treats SARS and has been used for treating patients with COVID-19 in China. As one of the world’s oldest herbal remedies, licorice is used for treating patients with all stages of COVID-19. Glycyrrhizic acid (GA), the main active compound in licorice, has been proven effective in killing the SARS virus. Meanwhile, as a natural plant molecule, GA can also directly target important protein structures of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and inhibit the replication of SARS-CoV-2. In this review, we summarized the immune synergy of GA and its potential role in treating COVID-19 complications. Besides, we reviewed its anti-inflammatory effects on the immune system and its positive effects in cooperation with various drugs to fight against COVID-19 and its comorbidities. The purpose of this review is to elucidate and suggest that GA can be used as a potential drug during COVID-19 treatment.

Background: COVID-19 developed into a global pandemic in 2020 and poses challenges regarding the prevention and control capabilities of countries. A large number of inbound travelers from other regions could lead to a renewed outbreak of COVID-19 in the local regions. Globally, as a result of the imbalance in the control of the epidemic, all countries are facing the risk of a renewed COVID-19 outbreak brought about by travelers from epidemic areas. Therefore, studies on a proper management of the inbound travelers are urgent.Methods: We collected a total of 4,733,414 inbound travelers and 174 COVID-19 diagnosed patients in Yunnan province from 21 January 2020 to 20 February 2020. Data on place of origin, travel history, age, and gender, as well as whether they had suspected clinical manifestations for inbound travelers in Yunnan were collected. The impact of inbound travelers on the local epidemic was analyzed with a collinear statistical analysis and the effect of the control measures on the epidemic was evaluated with a sophisticated modeling approach.Results: Of the 174 COVID-19 patients, 60.9% were not from Yunnan, and 76.4% had a history of travel in Hubei. The amount of new daily cases in Yunnan was significant correlated with the number of inbound travelers from Hubei and suspected cases among them. Using Susceptible–Exposed–Infectious–Recovered (SEIR) model analysis, we found that the prevention and control measures dropped the local R0 down to 1.07 in Yunnan province.Conclusions: Our preliminary analysis showed that the proper management of inbound travelers from outbreak areas has a significantly positive effect on the prevention and control of the virus. In the process of resettlement, some effective measures taken by Yunnan province may provide an important reference for preventing the renewed COVID-19 outbreak in other regions.