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Background Several reports on epidemiological and clinical features of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) have been published. However, mortality and morbidity analyses, important for better understanding the pathogenesis of this disease, are scarce. We examine the clinical and laboratory features of 14 patients who died of COVID-19. Methods The cohort consisted of 11 male and 3 female patients, with 9 patients aged 70 years or above, and nearly all had underlying diseases. Results Fever with bilateral pneumonia was the main manifestation. Most patients had consolidations combined with ground glass opacity (GGO) on chest computed tomography scan. Laboratory tests showed lymphocytopenia in 10 patients, high blood glucose in 11, GGT in 5 of the 14 patients, and high LDH in 5 of 6 patients tested. In addition, this cohort had high level of cytokines such as interleukin-6 in all 8 patients tested. Conclusions The clinical and laboratory parameters in the cohort of fatal cases may be incorporated into future clinical prognosis models and will be of help in understanding the pathogenesis of this disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]