Chronic disease and infection in China: lessons from the covid-19 pandemic

The covid-19 pandemic is over but provided many lessons for population health and chronic diseases, say Luzhao Feng and colleagues The harms from covid-19 during the pandemic extended beyond the disease itself. Older people with a chronic or non-communicable disease were among the most vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 and at the highest risk of death.12 The interplay between chronic disease and infection can exacerbate each condition, highlighting the importance of preventing infection in people with chronic disease and increasing the challenges of caring for patients with comorbidity.34 For instance, during the omicron outbreak in Hong Kong excess deaths occurred not only from covid-19 infections but from chronic diseases, including cerebrovascular disease and kidney disease.5 This may be because the healthcare system was heavily overwhelmed, leading to low quality healthcare services and longer waits for some interventions for non-covid illness. Moreover, patients with chronic diseases may face increased risks of complications and severe outcomes after covid-19 infection. At the onset of the pandemic, public health measures such as wearing masks, maintaining social distancing, and proactive health education, were crucial in controlling the spread of epidemics and buying more time to prepare …