Pablos JL, Galindo M, Carmona L, et al. - Researchers sought to determine the impact of inflammatory rheumatic diseases on COVID-19 severity via comparing the outcomes of a cohort of patients with rheumatic diseases with a matched control cohort. They assessed 456 rheumatic and non-rheumatic patients; mean age: 63 (IQR 53–78) years; male 41% in both cohorts. Rheumatic diseases were inflammatory arthritis (IA) (60%) and connective tissue diseases (CTDs) (40%). Hospitalization was reported for most patients (74%), and the rheumatic cohort had risk of severe COVID-19 of 31.6% vs 28.1% in the non-rheumatic cohort. Findings suggest correlation of having a CTD but not IA nor previous immunosuppressive therapies with severe COVID-19.