The Quick Walk Test: A Noninvasive Test to Assess the Risk of Mechanical Ventilation During COVID-19 Outbreaks.

The first case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the Lombardy region of Italy was confirmed in February 20201 . Here, the outbreak resulted in the rapid overcrowding of several Emergency Departments (EDs), where physicians had little or no criteria to decide who needed hospitalization or could be discharged2 . Several studies described common patterns of symptoms3-6 (fever, cough, dyspnea, myalgia, fatigue) and chest radiological findings3,5 (consolidation, ground-glass opacity, bilateral infiltrations, interstitial abnormalities) in severe and non-severe COVID-19 patients.