Many people across the country will be visiting loved ones this holiday, and like Thanksgiving, the coronavirus is making family gatherings a bit trickier this year.
At the beginning of the pandemic, there were many theories as to who was more like to die from COVID-19. Underlying health conditions, older age, obesity and being a minority were thought to increase risk. But which one puts you most at risk?
Turns out, it's older age, Researchers in North Carolina reviewed the data of nearly 65,000 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and found that a person over age 80 was 16 times more likely to die than a millennial. They also found that being male, living in a surge region and in a nursing home increased the risk of dying.
This finding explains why officials across the world are prioritizing older individuals getting the vaccine first. So yes, your parents and grandparents may be upset if you don't visit, but you may be saving them from hospitalization and even death.
