COVID-19 in a Role I Evacuation: A Case Series

Since December 2019, the novel SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2) became an emerging infectious disease pathogen that led to a global pandemic with over 43 million cases reported worldwide and more than 1.1 million global deaths (as of 26 Oct 2020, from https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html). Commonly known as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), this pathogen presents with a broad spectrum of disease progression and manifestations (no symptoms to acute respiratory distress syndrome leading to severe complications and death).1,2 Multiple publications have reported risk of disease and co-morbidities to include select underlying medical conditions and risks: older age (≥65 years), hypertension (HTN), cardiovascular disease, smoking, chronic respiratory disease, cancer, diabetes (DM), obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2), and male sex.2,3,4,5,6,7,8 In one study, researchers found severe obesity (BMI ≥ 35 kg/m2) associated with intensive care unit (ICU) admission alone.8 Nonetheless, risk factors for severity of the disease are determined by the pathogen, host, and environment.9.