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Since the first report on it in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has rapidly spread throughout the world. Due to the lack of effective therapy available for COVID-19 patients, the identification of risk factors for the severe course of the disease is a matter of urgency. Therefore, the aim of this review was to report on evidence-based risk factors affecting the severity and prognosis of COVID-19. We searched the PubMed database for current literature to identify relevant publications concerning risk factors for COVID-19 severity. Demographic and social factors (age, gender, race, in-center communities/nursing homes), clinical factors (smoking, hypertension, obesity, diabetes, chronic lung diseases, cardiovascular diseases - CVD, chronic kidney disease - CKD, malignancies, dementia, cardiomyopathies, immunocompromised state), laboratory markers (C-reactive protein - CRP, leukocytosis, ferritin, interleukin (IL)-6, D-dimer, lactate dehydrogenase - LDH, aspartate aminotransferase - AST, procalcitonin, creatinine, lymphopenia, IL-2, IL-7, IL-10, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor - G-CSF, also known as colony-stimulating factor 3 - CSF 3, interferon gamma-inducible protein-10 - IP-10, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 - MCP-1, macrophage inflammatory protein-1alpha - MIP1A, tumor necrosis factor alpha - TNF-α), and genetic factors related to both the virus and the host were discussed. The identification of the potential risk factors affecting the severity and prognosis of COVID-19 may provide a chance for earlier and more effective management of COVID-19.