Comparison of demographic, clinical and laboratory characteristics between first and second COVID-19 waves in a secondary care hospital in Qatar: a retrospective study.

Objective: To compare the patient profile and outcomes in Qatar during the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Setting: A retrospective observational study was conducted comparing the demographic, clinical and laboratory characteristics of patients with COVID-19 infection admitted to a secondary care hospital, during the first and second waves of the pandemic.

Participants: 1039 patients from the first wave and 991 from the second wave who had pneumonia on chest X-ray and had a confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection by a real-time PCR test of a nasopharyngeal swab were included.