Coronavirus equally fatal to young with comorbidities: Union Health Ministry

The novel coronavirus can be equally fatal to the young people having comorbiditieslike diabetes, hypertension, chronic kidney and heart-related issues as to the elderly, the Union Health Ministry said on Monday.

Presenting an analysis of the deaths due to COVID-19 reported so far in the country on the basis of age, Health Ministry's Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal urged young people having comorbidities to take precautions and follow social distancing to prevent contracting the disease.

"As of now, 86 per cent death cases have exhibited co-morbidity related to diabetes, chronic kidney issues, hypertension and heart-related problems. Although 19 per cent confirmed cases have been reported among the elderly, since 63 per cent deaths have been observed among them, elderly people form a high risk population," Agarwal said.

"Further, though 37 per cent deaths are reported from people below 60 years and approximately 86 per cent of deaths have happened in people with comorbidities highlights that young people with comorbidities are also at a high risk, " Agarwal said.

Analysing the reported deaths due to COVID-19 based on gender distribution, Agarwal said males account for 73 per cent deaths due to coronavirus infection while females 27 per cent, adding that 63 per cent deaths have been reported among people aged 60 and above,30 per cent deaths among people between 40 to 60 years and 7 per cent among people below 40 years.

Presenting an analysis of the cases based on gender distribution, Agarwal said males account for 76 per cent of the positive cases and 24 per cent females are were afflicted by the disease.

The death toll due to the novel coronavirus pandemic rose to 111 and the number of infections climbed to 4,281 in the country on Monday registering a record jump of 704 cases in 24 hours, according to Union Health Ministry data.

However,a PTI tally based on figures reported by states directly showed at least 137 deaths across the country, while the confirmed cases reaching 4,678. Of them, 344 have been cured and discharged.