Association of Sickle Cell Trait with Risk and Mortality of COVID-19: Results from the UK Biobank

We tested the hypothesis that patients with sickle cell trait (SCT), a common condition in individuals of African descent, have increased risk and mortality for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the UK Biobank. By June 17, 2020, 1,550 of 7,668 (20%) tested subjects were positive for COVID-19, including 298 (19%) deaths. Blacks had higher rates than Whites for COVID-19 infections (79/222=36% vs. 1,342/7,010=19%,P=1.28×10⁻⁹). Among Blacks, SCT carriers did not have higher infection rates (5/15=33%) than non-SCT carriers (74/207=36%),P=1.00. However, SCT carriers had a trend of higher death rates (2/5=40%) than non-SCT carriers (12/74=16%), although not statistically significant (P=0.21).