Donald Trump at greater risk of severe Covid-19 illness due to age and weight, expert studies show

The US president is aged 74 and overweight, two risk factors for anyone with Covid-19
Weight, age and gender can affect recovery from Covid
AFP via Getty Images
Ellena Cruse2 October 2020

Donald Trump is at higher risk of severe Covid-19 due to his age, gender and weight, expert studies show.

The President and First Lady Melania have both tested positive for the strain after his aide Hope Hicks was diagnosed with the virus.

At 74, Mr Trump falls into the high-risk age group, with experts concluding that age is by far the strongest predictor of an infected person’s risk of being hospitalised with the condition.

His chances are further affected due to his gender, with men around twice as likely to die from coronavirus as women. Reportedly weighing in at around 16 stone with a height of 6ft 3in, Mr Trump is also considered overweight.

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention says people aged 65 to 74 have a five times higher risk of hospital admission with coronavirus compared with those aged 18 to 29, and a 90 per cent higher risk of death.

For people aged 75 to 84, the risk of needing hospital admission jumps to eight times higher, with a 220 times higher risk of death.

The president got a clean bill of health in June from his doctor
Getty Images

Doctor Sean Conley told journalists in June that Mr Trump is healthy, he is medically overweight.

Reporters calculated that, at 6ft 3in, the president was just over the threshold for obesity.

In England in July, Public Health England (PHE) published a review which found a dramatic rise in the risk of hospital admission and death from Covid-19 for people who are overweight or obese.

Experts examined existing studies and concluded that people who are overweight, with a body mass index (BMI) of 25 to 29.9, have a higher risk of needing hospital treatment and poor outcomes.

Meanwhile, having a BMI of 35 to 40 increases the risk of death from coronavirus by 40 per cent, while a BMI over 40 almost doubles the risk compared with people who are a healthy weight.

One study found that, compared with a normal BMI, being overweight increased the risk of admission to intensive care by about 50 per cent, rising to more than double the risk for those with a BMI of 30 to 35, and about a four-fold increased risk for those with a BMI over 35.

Dr Barry Dixon, an intensive care physician at St Vincent’s hospital in Melbourne, said Mr Trump’s risk would increase if he developed pneumonia, which is associated with a high Covid-19 mortality rate, especially in patients over 65 and those who have cardiovascular disease or conditions affecting blood vessels of the brain.

“He’s at a much higher risk of dying if he does develop that bad pneumonia,” Mr Dixon told the Guardian. “There are other risk factors and co-morbidities such as whether you are a heavy smoker, have diabetes, or have heart disease. The key risk factors for Trump that we know about are his age and the fact he’s overweight, and they’d be high-risk factors.”

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