COVID-19 findings from the US show younger adults are being hospitalized.

Fatalities were highest in people over 85 years old, but the World Health Organization warns younger people against complacency.

Infected young adults are sharing experiences on social media.

Getting infected by COVID-19 isn’t just a worry for the elderly.

That’s one of the first findings about the virus in the US, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

What is the World Economic Forum doing about the coronavirus outbreak? Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic requires global cooperation among governments, international organizations and the business community, which is at the centre of the World Economic Forum’s mission as the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. How can we collaborate to stop the spread of COVID-19? Since its launch on 11 March, the Forum’s COVID Action Platform has brought together 1,667 stakeholders from 1,106 businesses and organizations to mitigate the risk and impact of the unprecedented global health emergency that is COVID-19. The platform is created with the support of the World Health Organization and is open to all businesses and industry groups, as well as other stakeholders, aiming to integrate and inform joint action. As an organization, the Forum has a track record of supporting efforts to contain epidemics. In 2017, at our Annual Meeting, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) was launched – bringing together experts from government, business, health, academia and civil society to accelerate the development of vaccines. CEPI is currently supporting the race to develop a vaccine against this strand of the coronavirus.

While fatalities were highest in people over 85 years old, catching COVID-19 can result in hospitalization and admission to an intensive care unit for a range of ages, it said. Of the more than 500 people known to be hospitalized, 18% were 45-54 years and 20% were aged 20-44 years.

Of those admitted to intensive care, 36% were aged 45-64 years and 12% were aged 20-44 years. No ICU admissions were reported among people 19 years or younger.

Hospitalizations, ICU and deaths from the virus by age range in the US. Image: US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

“Clinicians who care for adults should be aware that COVID-19 can result in severe disease among persons of all ages,” says the report, titled Severe Outcomes Among Patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). “Social distancing is recommended for all ages to slow the spread of the virus.”

Young people are not invincible

The findings come as the World Health Organization (WHO) warned against complacency, after media reports showed young people in many countries ignoring the advice to practise social distancing.

“Although older people are hardest hit, younger people are not spared,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference. “I have a message for young people: you are not invincible, this virus could put you in hospital for weeks or even kill you.”

Everyone needs to take care. Image: World Health Organization.

Some of the complacency may stem from the fact that reports from China, which felt the initial impact of the pandemic, showed older people were most affected. The US CDC’s findings underlined this: 31% of all cases studied, 45% of hospitalizations, 53% of ICU admissions, and 80% of deaths associated with COVID-19 were among adults aged 65 years or more, with the highest percentage of severe outcomes among persons aged 85 years or more.

Hospitalizations, ICU and deaths from the virus by age range in the US. Image: US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Warnings from social media

Even so, low risk doesn’t mean no risk, and young people around the world have been sharing their experiences of grappling with the virus online, as a warning to others. These include Tarek Soliman, a costume designer, who posted on Instagram from New York’s Mount Sinai West hospital.

“Here’s my story with coronavirus, especially for young people who think this virus isn’t dangerous,” he wrote.