1. INTRODUCTION
On March 11, 2020, due to the alarmingly increasing number of global cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) as a pandemic.1 As of August 18, 2020, the number of globally confirmed COVID-19 cases exceeded 21 million, the number of existing active cases was more than 6 million of which severe patients accounted for 1%, and the mortality rate in 216 countries and regions, based on the cases which had an outcome, was 5%.2.3 With the spread of COVID-19 around the world, the intensive care unit (ICU) is one of the major rescue departments for severe pneumonia ensuing from COVID-19.4
Numerous studies have described preliminary findings of the epidemiology of COVID-19 patients,5 clinical features, outcomes, and risk factors for death.6-9 However, there are relatively few studies that have reported clinical characteristics and survival outcomes of COVID-19 critically ill patients. A retrospective study from Italy has published baseline characteristics of COVID-19 ICU hospitalized patients.10 Similarly, two retrospective studies from Wuhan also described the severe clinical course and outcome of COVID-19 critically ill patients.11,12 Another study from Wuhan has reported the poor outcomes in cancer patients infected with COVID-19.13
Current research shows that the mortality rate of SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia patients in the ICU is extremely high, which exerts significant pressure on hospital intensive care resources.11,13 More evidence is required to better observe and summarize the characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 ICU patients, which would be essential to guide the treatment of ICU patients and the rational allocation of intensive care resources. This study aimed to describe the demographics, survival status, clinical outcomes, and the risk factors of COVID-19 diagnosed patients who were admitted to the ICU of District Headquarter (DHQ) Hospital, Faisalabad (Pakistan) from May 10 to July 10, 2020.