Who is most susceptible to coronavirus? COVID-19 not just affecting older people

LOS ANGELES - While it may seem that the majority of people hardest-hit by the novel coronavirus are in an older age group, that doesn’t mean that COVID-19 isn’t an opportunistic virus that can affect anyone of any age.

Who is most at risk?

According to a report from the World Health Organization (WHO), “most patients (77.8%) were aged 30 to 69 years.” That percentage could easily be interpreted as individuals who are of a certain age are more susceptible to the virus than others.

This isn’t necessarily the case. The WHO noted that people of all ages can be infected by the coronavirus, so no particular age group or bracket is more susceptible than another.

RELATED: Can coronavirus spread from mail or packages? No, health experts say

Why have more older people died?

Why so many older individuals have died because of the coronavirus, though, could be attributed to pre-existing medical conditions.

The WHO states that individuals with conditions such as asthma, diabetes, and heart disease “appear to be more vulnerable to becoming severely ill with the virus.”

Generally speaking, as a person lives longer, they will develop more health and medical conditions than those who are younger.

Does a person have to have an underlying medical condition to be hard-hit by the virus?

No. This does not mean that everyone who is aged 30 to 69 years or older who died from the coronavirus had a preexisting condition, nor that preexisting conditions were the primary cause or factor as to why they died from the virus.

It also doesn’t mean that individuals younger than 30 who are infected with COVID-19 and do or don’t have a preexisting condition have a “better” or “worse” chance of surviving the condition.

Rather, it’s a notation from WHO that offers possible reasoning as to why many of the coronavirus fatalities have been attributed to older individuals.

This story was reported from Los Angeles.