One of the top doctors on President Trump’s Coronavirus Task Force warned Friday that data suggests that men are more than twice as likely to die from the virus than women — and that no one is immune.
“From Italy we are seeing another concerning trend. The mortality in males seems to be twice in every age group of females,” said Dr. Deborah Birx at the White House daily briefing.
“This should alert all of us to continue our vigilance to protect Americans that are in nursing homes.”
Birx also said that the data showed that younger people remain at risk of contracting the disease but in most cases recover.
“We continue to review the data and we continue to see signs that individuals under 20, 19 and under may have severe disease but the majority have all recovered to date,” she said, adding that containing the virus will take a whole community effort.
“Frankly this requires all the communities, and when you see the sacrifices that many Americans have made and service industries have made to close their restaurants and bars so the spread can stop and you understand how all Americans must have to make the same sacrifice,” she said.
And she insisted that anyone can contract the virus.
“Finally no one is immune. I sometimes hear people on radio or others talking about being immune to the virus. We don’t know if the contagion levels are different in age groups but it is highly contagious to everyone,” she said.
“Do not interpret mild disease as lack of contagion or you are immune. The ability to fight the virus in a way that older people or people with existing medical conditions can’t.”
