The coronavirus is still spreading rapidly around the globe. Now recognized as a pandemic, the virus is far more deadly than the flu. However, you are far more likely to come in contact with the flu. Doctors are warning that the virus is more dangerous for people with other health problems, including heart problems.

The older a person is, the more dangerous the coronavirus — called COVID-19 — is. For people who are 80 or older, COVID-19 has a 14.8 percent fatality rate. For people age 10-39, the death rate is .2 percent. About half of patients at Central Hospital of Wuhan (aged 22 to 94) developed acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) — when fluid builds up in the lungs, making it hard to breathe and get enough fluid. Half of the people who developed the problem died, only nine percent of the people without ARDS died. The people who got ARDS were around 61 years old. The people who avoided the condition were 49 years old on average. People between the ages of 10 and 19 were underrepresented — because they don’t appear to be contracting the virus.  

In addition to age, health before the infection has a huge impact. In a study of 1,590 patients, 399 had at least one other disease — cancer, cardiovascular diseases, COPD, diabetes, hepatitis B or kidney diseases. They were 79 percent more likely to require intensive care or die. People with COPD were 2.6 times require intensive care than healthy people. Death rates were also heightened for people with health problems. Patients with cardiovascular disease were at a risk that was increased by 10.5 percent, and people with hypertension were 6 percent more likely to die. Different reports put those fatality rates even higher. And, these numbers don’t take into account the other problems that can occur alongside COVID-19. For instance, 16.7 percent of patients developed arrhythmia while ill. Lifestyle factors can

There are many measures you can take to prevent yourself from becoming ill. Washing your hands frequently and avoiding people who are sick are two of the best things you can do to stave off any form of contagious disease. Additional things you can do to protect yourself include lifestyle changes: eat a healthy diet, sleep a reasonable amount and don’t smoke. Avoiding the spread of all contagious diseases is essential; the hospitals are already filling up. You don’t want to come down with COVID-19 because you had to go to the emergency room with a bad stomach bug!