Study: Where COVID-19 hit hardest, sudden deaths outside the hospital increased ANI | Updated: Jan 18, 2021 11:22 IST Philadelphia [US], January 18 (ANI): A new study comparing the incidence of sudden deaths occurring outside the hospital across New York City's highly diverse neighbourhoods with the percentage of positive SARS-CoV-19 tests found that increased sudden deaths during the pandemic correlate to the extent of virus infection in a neighbourhood. The analysis appears in Heart Rhythm, the official journal of the Heart Rhythm Society, the Cardiac Electrophysiology Society, and the Pediatric & Congenital Electrophysiology Society, published by Elsevier. "Our research shows the highly diverse regional distribution of out-of-hospital sudden death during the COVID-19 pandemic surge and follows the geographic distribution of seroconversion to SARS-CoV-2 in New York City," explains lead investigator Stavros E. Mountantonakis, MD, FHRS, Northwell Health-Lenox Hill Hospital, Department of Cardiac Electrophysiology, New York, NY, USA.