CARDIOVASCULAR JOURNAL OF AFRICA • Volume 34, No 1, January–April 2023 AFRICA 21 D-dimer levels may also be found in malignancy, bleeding, surgery, thromboembolic events, various cases of inflammation, including infection and sepsis, and COVID-19, which is a viral sepsis and which may also contribute to increased morbidity and mortality rates. Limitations We could not evaluate the cardiac injury or pathophysiology with ECG or echocardiography daily or with intermittent follow up, and we could not do daily follow up with other inflammatory markers. Since it was a cross-sectional study performed in a single centre, patients with out-patient follow up or hospitalisation in the ICU were not included. Because of these limitations, the study cannot be generalised for all COVID-19 patients. Conclusion We showed that prolonged hospital stay increased the need for intensive care, and hospitalisations longer than 9.5 days increased mortality rates. 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