As of May 10, 2020, 4,118,326 confirmed cases with Coronavirus Disease 2019 56 (COVID-19) have been reported globally, with 280,718 deceased. The clinical 57 spectrum of COVID-19 pneumonia ranges from mild to critically ill patients [1] . 58 According to a recent report, the ratio of patients being admitted to intensive care unit 59 (ICU), requiring invasive ventilation and death were 5.00%, 2.18% and 1.36%, Patients recruited in the present study were followed up for 28 days since 86 admission. The endpoint is conversion from mild or moderate stage to severe or 87 critical stage or to death. The study was approved by the institutional board of each 88 participating site. The subjects' written consents were waived in light of reducing 89 exposure possibility and the urgent need to collect clinical data. However, verbal 90 consent from each patient or its legal relatives was obtained. This study aimed to determine the association of clinical characteristics and 216 laboratory findings with short-term outcome of mild to moderate cases with 217 COVID-19 from 3 medical centers in Wuhan. We found that several chronic 218 comorbidities and baseline blood biomarkers were independently associated with risk 219 for disease progression during a follow up of 28 days.
Once a patient advanced to severe disease stage, the risk for poor outcome 221 dramatically increases [3]. Therefore, identification of patients with risk for 222 progressing to severe disease is essential for timely intervention to improve prognosis.
In the present study, we utilized Cox proportional hazards models to assess the 224 association between clinical characteristics, baseline blood biomarkers and short-term 225 outcome of the disease. Age above 65 years and the male sex were found to be 226 significant risk factors for disease progression, which is consistent with previous 