The disease caused by the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, is an infection that leads to a respiratory illness that can be spread from person to person. In adults with chronic medical conditions such as heart disease, the risk of getting pneumonia and hospitalization increases. For patients with high blood pressure, the impact of high blood pressure medications is unknown. Some of the commonly used medications used to treat people with high blood pressure, heart disease, and kidney disease, may impact the disease course of COVID-19, but we urgently need proper trials to better guide our treatment of the growing population of patients with COVID-19 who are taking these medications.

The Randomized Elimination or ProLongation of Angiotensin Converting Enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers in Coronavirus Disease 2019 (REPLACE COVID trial) seeks to understand whether ACE inhibitors (ACEI) or Angiotensin Receptor Blockers (ARBs), which are commonly used medications, improve or worsen the risk of negative outcomes from COVID-19.