99 per cent of Italian #virus deaths so far are patients who had previous health conditions, a study by the country’s health authority suggests.

Research into 355 deaths showed that only three of the victims, 0.8 per cent, had no pre-existing health problems.

Nearly half of them – 48.5 per cent – had three or even more health conditions before they were infected with coronavirus.

Another 25.6 per cent had two other ‘pathologies’, while 25.1 per cent had one.

The research is consistent with previous findings that people with existing medical problems are more likely to die if they catch the coronavirus.

According to the Italian study, the most common of these problems include high blood pressure and heart disease.

Some 76.1 per cent of the dead patients had previously had problems with high arterial blood pressure, the study found.

More than a third – 35.5 per cent – had diabetes, while 33.0 per cent had ischemic heart disease.

Nearly a quarter, 24.5 per cent, had suffered from atrial fibrillation.

Less common examples included dementia and liver disease.

The study also found that the average age of people who died from the virus was 79.5.

Again, that is consistent with previous findings that older people are more vulnerable to the disease.

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