Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the increase of cases of heart arrhythmia and death after the onset of heart arrhythmia in the last year, and (2) research linking the onset of heart arrhythmia to contracting COVID-19.

No specific assessment has been made. However, NHS England and Improvement’s ‘Help us help you’ campaign encourages patients to seek urgent medical help when unwell, including that patients with symptoms of a heart attack should call 999. In February 2022, NHS England and NHS Improvement launched a new campaign to raise awareness of heart attack symptoms.

We are currently not aware of evidence suggesting that arrhythmia increases the risk of contracting COVID-19. While infection increases the risk of developing an arrhythmia, particularly for patients with an underlying heart condition, there is evidence that this risk does not continue once the patient has recovered. The National Institute for Health and Care Research has not funded any specific research on a possible link between COVID-19 onset and arrythmia. However, it has supported a study investigating arrythmia as a consequence of COVID-19 disease.