Large Number of Young Adults Hospitalized with Coronavirus, Report Says
CDC data shows 38% of those admitted to hospital are between 20 and 54 years old
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A large percentage of patients hospitalized after being infected with the deadly coronavirus is young adults, according to a bombshell new report.
It has been widely reported that the elderly population is at greater risk of contacting COVID-19 than the younger population.
However, a Wednesday report suggested that millennials should start taking the virus more seriously.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a study showing that over a third of patients admitted to hospital are young adults.
The figures show around 38 percent of the 508 patients being hospitalized in the United States is between 20 and 54 years old, the New York Times reported.
20 percent of patients, including those in intensive care, is between 20 to 44, the report added.
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The paper spoke to a professor of epidemiology at Columbia who said those 20 and older "have to be careful, even if they think that they’re young and healthy."
For most, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough.
For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.
The disease’s true fatality rate isn’t yet known, but it seems 10 times higher than the flu, which kills hundreds of thousands around the world each year, the United States’ top infectious disease expert told lawmakers last week.
Dr. Deborah Birx, who serves as the coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, declared millennials as "the core group that will stop the virus," during a press conference at the White House.
"I am the mom of two wonderful millennial young women who are bright and hard-working, and I will tell you what I told to them: they are the core group that will stop this virus," Brix said.
"They are the group that communicates successfully independent of picking up a phone ... they intuitively know how to contact each [other] without being in a large social gathering."
The report comes as college students on spring break have boasted about their determination to keep enjoying themselves, despite warnings they face prosecution if they gather together in large numbers in Miami.
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Thousands of college students gathered in bars and restaurants along the coast despite the restrictions, ignoring the advice from health authorities, according to reports.
They were insistent they would keep partying, despite their actions risking spreading the infection and putting more vulnerable people in danger.
One young man, Bradley Sluder told CBS: "If I get corona, I get corona. At the end of the day, I'm not going to let it stop me."
Videos posted on social media have shown young people sharing Shisha pipes and extravagant cocktails.
Health officials have also advised everyone to practice social distancing, by staying at least six feet away from other people.
However, those enjoying the spring break are ignoring the recommendations despite the threat to public health.
Officials in Miami Beach have declared it illegal for more than 10 people to gather together and shutting its bars and restaurants in an effort to stymie the spread of the coronavirus.
