Are certain groups at higher risk of COVID-19 than others?
Most confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been in adults. Infections have been reported in children of all ages, but data suggest that older adults (over 65 years) are at higher risk of serious illness from COVID-19. The risk may be twice as high in these populations, possibly because the immune system changes with age, making it harder to fight off disease and infection. People with certain pre-existing medical conditions (people with chronic lung disease,
heart disease with complications, severe obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney or liver disease, or those with compromised immune systems) are also at high risk of severe illness from COVID-19.Data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for March 2020, the first month of WHO's declaration of a pandemic, shows that of those people who were sick enough to be hospitalized, almost 90% had at least one chronic condition had. It is more difficult for the body to recover from an illness when these
underlying disorders are present.
Additional data suggests that African Americans are disproportionately affected by COVID-19 and are more likely to be hospitalized or die from the disease. Racial and ethnic demographics are not always publicly reported, and there are gaps in this information from state to state. Regardless, the available data suggest that the higher infection rates and poorer outcomes are due to historical inequalities in job opportunities, housing densities, health risks, and access to health care.Does the virus mutate as it spreads?
All viruses mutate and acquire changes in their genome over time. This is a natural part of the life cycle of a virus. As of the end of March 2020, the SARS-CoV-2 genome has undergone very few mutations during its global spread. While these changes can be used to track infection patterns, they don't appear to have made the virus more difficult or spread more easily.