The British and Irish Hypertension Society advises that all patients taking angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEi) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) should continue to do so
during the COVID-19 pandemic.

There has been speculation that drugs such as ACEi and ARB, commonly taken by patients with hypertension, heart failure and diabetes, might increase susceptibility to corona virus infection.
In equal measure it has been suggested that these drugs could reduce the risk of serious lung disease following infection.

At the present time we have no evidence as to whether either of these two possibilities are true.

Patients could be put at risk by stopping these effective treatments for their current condition and, until further evidence is available, they should be encouraged to continue their current
treatment.

We will make a fresh statement should any new information become available.

International Societies, with whom we are affiliated, have made similar statements:
The European Society of Cardiology:
https://www.escardio.org/Councils/Council-on-Hypertension-(CHT)/News/position-statementof-the-esc-council-on-hypertension-on-ace-inhibitors-and-ang
The European Society of Hypertension:
https://www.eshonline.org/spotlights/esh-statement-on-covid-19/
The International Society of Hypertension:
https://ish-world.com/news/a/A-statement-from-the-International-Society-of-Hypertensionon-COVID-19/