Age counts in coronavirus — and not just for seniors. Here’s what the NC numbers show
Health experts have said all along that older people are more at risk for severe complications from the coronavirus, and North Carolina is no exception.
But preliminary data gathered across the state — and the nation — paint a more complicated picture as to how COVID-19 affects different age groups.
North Carolina had 3,326 reported coronavirus cases and 55 deaths as of Wednesday morning, according to state and county health officials.
People ages 25 to 49 account for the highest portion (42%) of reported cases in the state, data show.
By comparison, people over 65 make up just 20% of reported cases.
But the numbers flip when it comes to recorded deaths — 80% were over the age of 65, state health officials report.
Mortality rates are “clearly dominated” by the elderly and those with underlying health conditions, said Dr. Cameron R. Wolfe, an associate professor of medicine at Duke University.
“But if you think of who would be more likely exposed to a respiratory virus that’s spread via droplet, it’s going to be (those) who are in far more frequent contact with other people,” he said.
Wolfe said most people in their 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s are “around a wide variety of people each day” — whether it be going to work or the grocery store.
“My proportional chance of running into the coronavirus is actually much higher than your average 70- or 80-year-old who probably isn’t meeting that many new people in a day,” Wolfe told McClatchy.
The numbers also show that older North Carolinians might be doing a better job of heeding mandates and the advice of health experts who tell them to stay home and practice social distancing.
County data
Health officials in Wake County have been tracking some demographics since reporting the first case of COVID-19 in North Carolina on March 3.
Of the county’s more than 300 confirmed cases, nearly half are people between the ages of 35 and 54. Those over 65 account for just 47 cases.
Mecklenburg County has been hesitant to release demographic data about individuals who test positive for the coronavirus, the Charlotte Observer reported.
But it did report some “highlights” based on the 466 cases in the county as of April 1 (it’s since climbed to more than 800).
At the time, about 3 in 4 reported cases were adults between 20 and 59 years old, and about 38% were in people ages 25 to 39.
Only about 1 in 5 cases required hospitalization, Mecklenburg County reported.
But one in two adults over the age of 60 who tested positive for the virus had to be hospitalized. That same age group accounts for 24.5% of all reported cases.
What’s happening nationally?
It’s a similar picture nationally, according to data collected by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In mid-March, when the total number of U.S. cases was just 4,226, the number of hospitalizations, admissions to the ICU and deaths were highest among adults over 65, the CDC reported.
The number of reported cases has since ballooned to nearly 400,000, but the CDC still reports the highest rate of hospitalization among people ages 65 and older.
Antibody tests
Large groups of people haven’t been tested because they aren’t showing symptoms, but Wolfe said it’s possible many of them have the virus and are asymptomatic.
Down the line, that’s where antibody surveys — which help detect whether someone had the virus at an earlier time through a blood test — come into play.
Until then, data on who the virus is affecting and how can help with short term preparation for an oncoming surge — how many people health officials can expect in hospitals and the number of beds needed, Wolfe said.
It’s “very, very hard” to compare numbers across states, but he said this might be the one time North Carolina should be grateful for its lack of large-scale public transportation like New York City’s — what he called “an incubator for a respiratory disease.”
“We certainly don’t look like we’re following a New York trend,” Wolfe said. “It’s more akin to slower states like Washington that was infected early on but had good public health and social isolation policies in front.”
This story was originally published April 8, 2020 at 12:09 PM.
