Half of New Coronavirus Cases in Washington Are People Under 40: Report

[riversedge]

Source: daily beast




Half of New Coronavirus Cases in Washington Are People Under 40: Report

Published May. 28, 2020 1:52PM ET


Half of the new coronavirus cases in Washington State are among people under the age of 40, a major shift in the state’s age distribution that public health officials have attributed to younger people engaging in risky behavior. Seattle epidemiologist Judith Malmgren, who authored the report, said that younger people “are the most likely to be socially active, they are the most likely to work in essential professions and have more contact with the public.” Malmgren also said it was a “popular misconception that children, teenagers and young people are not at risk.”

By early May, 39 percent of confirmed infections occurred in people aged 20 to 39, while those under the age of 19 accounted for 11 percent. Washington State Health Officer Dr. Kathy Lofy said the report indicated that older residents had been more diligent about adhering to social distancing practices and staying at home. She also credited the age distribution shift to the state’s efforts to control outbreaks in long-term care facilities.
Read it at The Seattle Times


Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/half-of-new-coronavirus-cases-in-washington-are-people-under-40-report-says?ref=home

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whow. This is a serious development. NO one is immune (if the young thought they were)

[regnaD kciN]

1. No one is immune...

...but younger people are less likely to become seriously ill or die from it.

[Lochloosa]

2. I stay away from a couple of groups of people. Young people (under 40..young to me)

and anyone not wearing a mask.

If you are out in public without a mask, it tells me you don't give a shit about anyone.

[Delphinus]

11. I kind of

think that too.

[Igel]

3. You still typically get tested when you're symptomatic.

Age matters when it comes to symptoms. Under 19, you're less likely to have symptoms than if you're 20-44. That means you're less likely to be tested.

In other words, the difference in infection rate is likely to be a different in testing rates. It's an epiphenomenon, an artifact of how we measure, not a real difference.

Even the increase in the 20-44 group is likely to reflect the wider availability of tests: It used to be that you'd need to be in a high-risk, high-need group or rather ill to merit being tested. With more tests, they can test more widely and include far more people with milder symptoms. Which means younger people.

There's this funny misconception that younger people are not at risk for infection.

There's this funny misconception that all people are at the same risk of serious illness or death.

The first makes people act stupid out of carelessness. The second makes people act stupid out of fear. Of the two, the second is far more dangerous to a wider range of people, because fear pushed just a bit too far becomes desperation.

[BigmanPigman]

4. That was a good explanation.

[2naSalit]

5. I was noticing that in many states

yesterday when I was looking at the stats pages.

[RhodeIslandOne]

6. Not stunning at all

The “we only need to worry about grandma and grandpa” mantra was bullshit.

Obviously we’ve done a good job of internalizing that but here comes the real wake up call. It’s not enough.

[regnaD kciN]

12. Remember the "Boomer Remover" jokes...?

Maybe this will be a wake-up call...but probably not.

[Odoreida]

7. DC? What about racial correlation? n/t

[RhodeIslandOne]

8. Washington State

[Ford_Prefect]

9. No one is immune and there can be dire long term damage resulting from it.

In some people, this may mean compromised heart, lung, kidney, brain, and other organ functions along with long term weakness in muscle tissue and circulatory system. This resembles malaria or tuberculosis in that there can be lingering, long term, recurring effects on overall health.
It is far more damaging than any Flu. There appears to be questionable post-infection resistance and as yet there is no accurate estimation of the duration of such resistance.

[Skittles]

10. young folk thinking they are invincible

when did that start?

[Initech]

13. This is a virus the likes of which we have never seen.

And *EVERYBODY* is vulnerable to it. This is going to get way worse before it gets better.