Coronavirus: Younger is No Longer Free for Coronavirus Infection

Normally, from the first case of covid-19 confirmed in Wuhan, China, the government and social health care organizations are talking more about the high infection risk of older people with 60+ years old, and those old people who have basic chronic diseases.

See Death Rate by Ages:

With the statistics, a best assumption is that the youngers is much safer than the olders. I guess that is why there are still having lots of outdoor parties and get-togethers of youngers in the United States and Europe countries where the COVID-19 pandemic is outbreak for long.

Physicians and medical experts said the rate of young people admitted to New York City due to infection with the new coronavirus (COVID-19) was alarmingly high, breaking the assumption of which age group is most likely to be infected with COVID-19.

No Safe Guard to the Youngers

Reported by the Bloomberg that New York is the state with the largest number of diagnoses in the United States. According to New York City health authorities, one-fifth of hospitalizations are under the age of 44. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) data, 10-15% of the world’s confirmed cases under the age of 50 are patients with moderate to severe pneumonia.

In the past few months, the elderly have been regarded as the highest-risk group. The health authorities require that young people in their 20s and 30s should not go out. The main reason is not to ask the group to protect themselves, but to avoid spreading the virus to the elderly . But beginning in mid-March, the outbreaks in Italy and France showed that more and more young people contracted Wuhan pneumonia, and the same situation is now occurring in the United States.

New York City physician Kaedrea Jackson estimates that as many as 20% of confirmed cases admitted to the hospital are under the age of 50, and many young patients in their 30s need to wear a respirator when they are admitted to the hospital.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said that too many young people do not yet know that they may be infected.

• Disposable Medical Face Masks with Elastic Ear Loop 3 Ply Breathable and Comfortable
• Disposal Protective Clothing for Medical Use
• N95/KN95 Protective Mask with Elastic Ear Loop
• Surgical Mask with Elastic Ear Loop 3 Ply Breathable and Comfortable
• ZeroVirus Space Portable Sterilization Bar

At present, the United States lacks large-scale testing, so it is difficult for health authorities to know which age group is more likely to be infected with Wuhan pneumonia, but many doctors said that the number of young patients who have become serious after infection is staggering.

NYC Health + Hospitals emergency room physician Eric Wei said: “Many patients are young people who were originally healthy. It seemed like they had the flu at first, but they needed oxygen after a few hours, and they needed to wear a respirator in a few hours.”

Employees at NYU Langone Health Medical Center revealed that dozens of critically ill patients admitted to the hospital last week were all under 50 years old, some were in their 20s, and one was only 7 years old.

Paul Sax, clinical director of infectious diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, said: “The number of young and middle-aged patients is shocking. This is different from what was originally expected. This group of people was originally healthy, exercising regularly and in good condition.”

According to the Los Angeles Times reported on March 24, the local public health department disclosed that as of now, the total number of cases of new coronavirus infection in Los Angeles County in southern California has reached 662, of which 42% are between 18 and 18 years old. Between 40 years old, 39% of people are between 41 and 65 years old.

Image source: Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles County currently has 11 deaths, including a teenager under the age of 18. The teenager, from Lancaster, died of septic shock due to a new coronavirus, and his father was also infected. Relevant departments are confirming whether this is the first minor in the United States to die from a new coronavirus.

Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, said: “This is a shocking reminder that COVID-19 affects people of all ages.”

Reopening Takes more risk for the Youngers

As much of the country presses forward with reopening, a growing number of cities and states are finding that the coronavirus outbreak now has a foothold in a younger slice of the population, with people in their 20s and 30s accounting for a larger share of new coronavirus infections.

The demographic shift has emerged in regions with different populations and political approaches to the pandemic – from Washington state and California to Florida and Texas. North Carolina, South Carolina, Arizona, Wisconsin and Colorado also all report clusters that have a larger proportion of young adults than they had previously seen.

Public health experts said the trend could be explained in several ways. More people are getting coronavirus tests. The criteria for who gets tested as well as the capacity to test them have expanded since the beginning of the pandemic. Early on, generally only people with symptoms or who were seriously ill could get tested at all.

But some public health experts said the increase is because some younger adults may perceive they are less at risk than their parents or grandparents and are more likely to venture back into society as it reopens — that could mean going to restaurants or social gatherings or returning to the workplace.