Coronavirus: The Young Aren’t Invincible

There has been a lot of talk about Coronavirus and how it may or may not affect different age groups. While anyone can get the infection, the elderly and those with compromised health are at the most risk. Still, that does not mean the younger generations should ignore the precautions because they are not indestructible, as Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general for the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

“Today I have a message for young people,” he warned. “You are not invincible, this virus could put you in the hospital for weeks or even kill you. Even if you don’t get sick the choices you make about where you go could be the difference between life and death for someone else.”

Younger generations may not be as susceptible to getting COVID-19, but they can easily pass it on to others without even realizing it. This is why health professionals and the president of the United States have urged social isolation and urging everyone to remain at home when possible and at least six feet away from other people when public contact is unavoidable.

You could be carrying the disease without even knowing it. The danger here is the potential to pass it on to parents, grandparents, and others who may be much more likely to get sick from it. “Remember that transmission is not just person to person, it’s also place to place,” Dr. Nikita Desai, a pulmonologist at Cleveland Clinic, said. “Everywhere you go, you might leave virus and then someone else may come and pick it up.”

By the Ages

More cases in young adults are appearing as the virus becomes more established. In California there have been 246 adults under the age of 64 diagnosed with Coronavirus while only 135 people over 65 were infected. In Colorado the numbers are even more telling as more than half of those diagnosed were people in their 30s, 40s, and 50s. And in Georgia, people under the age of 60 made up 46% of the cases.

Italy’s number of infected has swelled to be beyond China’s and some critics say that is because the country tends to have more elderly citizens than other places. However, 38% of the cases were in people over 70, but then 37% have been found in people in their 50s and 60s. About a quarter of the diagnoses in Italy are in adults younger than 50.

Taking precautions and practicing social isolation is the way to combat the spread of Coronavirus according to health officials. Even if you do not have any symptoms, or they are very mild, safety measures should still be followed to protect friends and family members who may be more vulnerable to contracting the disease.