Coronavirus death rate higher among those with chronic ailments

Death rates are 12 times higher for coronavirus patients with chronic illnesses than for others who become infected, a new U.S. government report says.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released on Monday highlights the dangers posed by heart disease, diabetes and lung ailments. These were the top three health problems found in COVID-19 patients, the report suggested.

The report was based on 1.3 million laboratory-confirmed coronavirus cases reported from Jan. 22 through the end of May.

Information on health conditions was available for just 22% of the patients. It showed that 32% had heart-related disease, 30% had diabetes and 18% had chronic lung disease, which included asthma and emphysema.

Among patients with a chronic illness, about 20% died, compared with almost 2% of those who were otherwise healthy. Virus patients with a chronic condition were also six times more likely to be hospitalized — 46% versus almost 8%.

People with chronic disease “are much more likely to suffer severe effects of COVID-19, but we can’t lose sight of the fact that previously healthy people can also become very ill and even die,” Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and public health specialist at George Washington University, said in a statement.

Race and ethnicity data, available for just under half of patients, showed 36% were white, 33% Hispanic, 22% black, 4% Asian and about 1% American Indian. Though the numbers are incomplete, they echo other reports that found minorities have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic.

Overall, 14% of patients were hospitalized and 5% died based on available data. Among patients ages 80 and up who died, half had a chronic illness.

Almost equal numbers of men and women were infected, but men were more likely to have severe cases, the report found.