The COVID-19 Risk NOBODY Talks About

You’ve been told that coronavirus doesn’t discriminate.

Old, young.

Rich, poor.

Black, white.

Cases have popped up in virtually every demographic you can think of.

But while no one is immune, coronavirus does discriminate.

You already know that people with heart disease are much more likely to contract the virus—and to die from it.

But there’s another group of people that are especially vulnerable—whether they have heart disease or not.

Italy has been hit especially hard by COVID-19. They have one of the highest deaths per capita of any country.

But certain areas of Italy have a shockingly high mortality rate.

Northern Italy in particular has a 12 percent death rate compared to the rest of country, which has a 4.5 percent death rate.

And a few environmental researchers have a good idea of why…

Air pollution.

In a recent study, researchers point out that the two regions in Northern Italy with the highest COVID-19 mortality rate also happen to be two of the most air-polluted regions in all of Europe.

They believe that in these highly polluted areas, people’s bodies are already in a weakened state because of the accumulation of toxins in their bodies from the air pollution.

Interestingly, a recent Harvard study found a similar connection between air pollution and COVID-19 mortality here in the States as well.

The researchers analyzed over 3,000 counties across the US. Ones that had even slight elevations in tiny particles called PM 2.5 also had higher death rates from COVID-19.

In fact, increases of just one unit of PM 2.5 were associated with a 15 percent increase in the death rate from COVID-19.

PM 2.5 particles are emitted from vehicle exhaust and coal power plants. And exposure to PM 2.5 has already been linked to higher rates of:

• Heart disease
• Diabetes
• Respiratory illnesses

Those are the same conditions that have already been linked to a higher risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19.

In fact, nearly 80 percent of COVID-19 patients requiring intensive care have at least one of these conditions.

And remember hearing about the Spanish Flu of 1918? It turns out that this pandemic killed more people in cities that burned coal, compared to those that didn’t.

And back in 2003, during the SARS epidemic, people who contracted SARS in the parts of China that had the highest pollution rates were twice as likely to die from the virus as those in those with the lowest air pollution.

There’s no denying the link between air pollution and increased mortality from viral infections.

If you happen to live in an area that has higher air pollution, be sure to take extra steps to avoid contracting COVID-19—the same precautions I mentioned earlier in the week if you have heart disease.