Patients hospitalized for a heart attack during the pandemic tended to be younger by about 1 to 3 years than patients before the pandemic.

Typically, older people have gotten sicker from Covid-19.

Patients who were hospitalized for a heart attack during the pandemic spent less time at the hospital than before the pandemic.

That may have been out of a concern about the risk of being exposed to the novel coronavirus at those facilities.

Around March 29, the number of people hospitalized for a heart attack did increase, but it was at a slower rate than before the pandemic.

There was a substantial increase in deaths among patients who suffered a more serious type of heart attack called STEMI.

The rate of people who died from these serious heart attacks was even greater during the later part of the pandemic, the study found.

"Compared with the before COVID-19 period, however, patients with STEMI had a statistically greater risk of mortality during the later COVID-19 period," they wrote.

One way of analyzing the deaths, called an observed to expected ratio, indicated patients were more than twice as likely to die from STEMI heart attacks during the study period.

Time matters with a serious heart attack.

Elkind said, because people having a heart attack have a much better chance of surviving if they get help immediately.

"If people feel that they might be having symptoms of a heart attack or stroke, then they should call 911, even during the pandemic," Elkind said.

Elkind, who was not a part of the Providence study, said he would like to know more about why this has been happening.