So, they get this temporary heart failure and the symptoms can actually be pretty severe enough where they can almost mimic the signs of a heart attack, Adesina said. Cleveland Clinic researchers found cases of broken heart syndrome doubled in two of their hospitals in March and April, which is the same time the pandemic ramped up job losses, isolation and concerns surrounding coronavirus. They now believe extreme stress during the pandemic could be causing this increase of broken heart syndrome among the general public. He said its not just high emotions that can trigger broken heart syndrome but also an infection. That means both people with increased worries right now and those with a COVID-19 infection are at risk for this syndrome.