A recent study published in “Scientific Reports” raises the question, “are the elderly really more vulnerable to COVID-19 than the general population”? Since its emergence, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has resulted in a pandemic and has produced a huge number of cases worldwide. As of May 29, 2020, the number of confirmed cases in Italy was 382.3 (per 100,000 population), with 507.2 in Spain and 13.2 in Japan. Of those infected, it has been reported that elderly individuals account for a large portion of “fatal cases” inducing a large heterogeneity in the age distribution of mortality.
Lots of statistics, however, the results of the study do show variation in susceptibility among age groups and the results suggest that it does not largely depend on age but rather that age-dependency in severity highly contributes to the formation of the observed age distribution in mortality.
The bottom line, there are hundreds of studies being published every day. The best guidance is to pay close attention to your county’s positivity rates, mask up, wash your hands, social distance, and be ever vigilant to who you are exposing your residents to. We all want to hug grandma however we know we shouldn’t, we should be following the CDC’s guidance on visitation, social distance and protect our elders even if there are studies that raise questions. As always, stay well, stay safe, and stay tuned!