Coronavirus Mortality Rate For Men Might Be Twice What It Is For Women
At today’s (3/30) White House press conference, Dr. Deborah Birx, the coronavirus response coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force, said that a “concerning trend” from Italy is showing that “mortality in males seems to be twice in every age group of females.”
Dr. Birx also addressed the danger to children with medical conditions, saying, “We don’t know the level of risks… There just is not enough numbers at this time to tell them if they’re at additional risks in the same way adults are,” she said. Dr. Birx stressed that no age groups are immune from the virus.
The Washington Post reports that in Italy, men make up nearly 60 percent of people with confirmed cases of the virus and more than 70 percent of those who have died of COVID-19. However, they also report that in South Korea, about 61 percent of confirmed infections have been in women. Though far fewer patients have died, the majority of fatalities there — 54 percent —- were men.
The Post also reports that Carlos del Rio, chair of the department of global health at Emory University. says that “This difference in mortality is creating a lot of anxiety,” as no one seems to understand why there is a difference.
