New COVID data continues to show that those over 65 are at higher risk of death from virus

New data from the Fresno County Department of Public Health’s Epidemiology Program continue trends that suggest that those who are older and non-white are more susceptible to death from the deadly coronavirus, COVID-19.

According to the new numbers, 11 people ages of 75 or older have died from the virus, making up 55 percent of the total number of deaths.

Eight of those deaths were people that had co-morbidities, or the presence of two or more chronic diseases in a patient.

Six deaths were people ages 65-74, accounting for 30 percent of total deaths from the virus, all of which also had co-morbidities. Three deaths were from people ages 45-64, accounting for 15 percent of the total, and all had co-morbidities.

There have been no confirmed deaths of people younger than 45.

The numbers also showed that those of Hispanic descent have the highest mortality rate per 100,000 people, followed by black and then white people.

Hispanic people have died at a rate of 2.63 per 100,000, while black people have died at a rate of 2.17 and white people have died at a rate of 1.73 per 100,000 people.

Every death of white and black people came with co-morbidities, compared with 78.57 percent of deaths for Hispanic people.

Furthermore, black people had the highest total case fatality rate of the three groups. According to the numbers, 3.23 percent of all COVID-19 cases of black people have resulted in death, compared with 2.54 percent of white people and 1.84 percent of Hispanics.

Michael graduated from Fresno State in May 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in print journalism. During his time at the university, he served as sports and managing editor for The Collegian, Fresno State’s student-run newspaper. In addition to the Clovis Roundup, Michael has written for The Fresno Bee, the Kingsburg Recorder and Selma Enterprise. He has a passion for sports and can be found on the sidelines at local games, bringing the citizens of Clovis the athletics news they deserve.