The relationship between death risk from the novel coronavirus & chronic disease is becoming clear. At first, age was mentioned as a key risk. But the real culprit for high COVID-19 hospitalization & mortality seems to be "underlying health conditions"--i.e., chronic diseases, which typically worsen health as people age. The bottom line, even as we await more data in the coming months: a lot fewer people would be dying from COVID-19, if they had been more active, had healthier nutrition, not smoked, etc.--earlier in life. Governments have had a very mixed record in responding to the pandemic. But they can prepare us better for the next time-- for future infectious and chronic diseases --by helping us develop healthier habits: "Among the 105 patients who had died in Italy as of March 4, two-thirds had three or more preexisting conditions. The most common was hypertension, followed by ischemic heart disease and diabetes mellitus. These chronic
Committed to developing whole-population healthy habits, starting K-12, and using advocacy & social entrepreneurship to do whatever is necessary for a healthy future for us all.