How age and death are related when it comes to Covid-19

Ever since the Covid-19 pandemic took over the world, researchers have been trying to understand the dynamics of who is at a greater risk of infection, serious illness, and death. One of the studies has revealed in detail how the rate of infection increases in coronavirus patients once they reach middle age.

The analyses found that while the overall death rate for confirmed cases was 1.38 per cent, the rate rose sharply with age – from 0.0016 per cent in the under 10s, to 7.8 per cent in 80s and over.

A dramatic rise was seen among middle-aged groups too, with 4 per cent of people in their 40s needing hospital treatment and more than 8 per cent of patients in their 50s.

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One of the estimates, reported in Lancet Infectious Diseases, are based on an analysis of 70,117 laboratory-confirmed and clinically-diagnosed cases in mainland China, combined with 689 positive cases among people evacuated from Wuhan on repatriation flights.

“Our analysis very clearly shows that at aged 50 and over, hospitalisation is much more likely than in those under 50, and a greater proportion of cases are likely to be fatal,” said Professor Azra Ghani, a co-author of the study.

The results have been largely mirrored in the US and China. The most severe cases, and the highest rates of death, are among the elderly in the US. In the earliest cases reported in the US, older Americans represented 31 per cent of the cases, they accounted for 45 per cent of hospitalisations, 53 per cent of ICU admissions, and 80 per cent of deaths.

In Italy, 22 per cent of the population is 65 or older, compared to 17 per cent in the US. While it also raises hopes for a less disastrous health care breakdown, it also puts a question mark on the awareness of the two nations — who are still reeling under the delay they caused in initiating an action against the outbreak.

But, having said that, the millennials are not completely invincible. Young people may contract the disease, a not-insignificant percentage of them can get very sick, and a smaller number will die. The rates of severe and deadly cases may not be nearly as high as the older generations, but coronavirus can bring anyone down.