People with underlying health conditions have six times the risk of being hospitalized with illnesses related to coronavirus and 12 times the risk of dying than healthy people with coronavirus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
Cardiovascular disease, lung disease and diabetes are the most prevalent underlying health risk for coronavirus patients, the agency said.
The research analyzed more than 1.3 million coronavirus cases and found 15% of people were hospitalized and 5% died. However, the real fatality rate is probably lower since people without symptoms or mild symptoms are not likely to be tested.
“The COVID-19 pandemic continues to be severe, particularly in certain population groups,” the CDC said.
The news is particularly harmful for elderly people, as at least 31,782 nursing home residents have died from coronavirus, according to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
Elderly people are at a higher risk for having compromised immune systems and underlying health conditions.
People between ages 40 and 59 have higher rates of coronavirus than people between ages 60 and 79, according to the analysis.
Rates are the highest within the 80 and older group with a rate of 900 cases per 100,000 people.
People in the 20 to 29 group made up 14% of coronavirus cases, with 4% requiring hospitalization.
Within the 600,000 cases, Hispanics made up 33% of coronavirus cases, black people made up 22% and American Indians or Alaskan Natives accounted for 1.3%.
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