Obesity is a major COVID-19 risk factor, says epidemiologist

Obesity or being overweight is a major risk for people infected with the new coronavirus, an epidemiologist has said.

The United States is particularly vulnerable because of high obesity levels there, France’s chief epidemiologist, Professor Jean-François Delfraissy, further said on Wednesday.

Delfraissy heads the scientific council that advises the government on the epidemic.

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He added that as many as 17 million of France’s 67 million citizens were seriously at risk from the coronavirus because of age, pre-existing illness or obesity.

"Those who are overweight really need to be careful," Delfraissy told franceinfo radio.

The mortality rate for young people entering hospital with severe COVID-19 respiratory disease was about 2 per cent, but rose to 14 per cent for people who are more fragile.

The global COVID-19 death toll approached95,000 as of Thursday afternoon out of the more than 1.5 million confirmed cases.

Though social distancing measure have brought a little respite, countries like the US, Spain, Italy, and France continue to suffer. They account for nearly 830,000 cases between them, and almost 60,000 deaths.

Obesity has been cited as a possible explanation for higher than average per-capita COVID-19 death rates in the US city of New Orleans and in Mexico.