The age group that has caught the coronavirus in the greatest numbers in Australia is people in their thirties.
Federal health figures show that women aged 30-39 are the group with the most confirmed cases, followed by men in their forties.
Scientists have warned young adults that it’s not only old people who will die from the virus.
Disease expert Peter Collignon from the Australian National University, said young people need to take the virus seriously.
This graphic shows the number of cases in Australia that have
‘I worry that young people may have the attitude that they’re bulletproof,’ he told The Australian.
‘In France, people in their 30s are in intensive care with this disease. Even at a very low rate of death, it does not mean young people are bulletproof.’
On Thursday research from the US revealed that younger adults are at risk of becoming seriously ill because of the novel coronavirus.
Although those who are oldest, aged 80 and above, have the greatest risk of dying, a sizeable portion of those hospitalized were younger, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Among 508 US patients known to have been hospitalized between February 12 and March 16, 38 percent were between ages 20 and 54.
And roughly 47 percent of 121 patients taken to intensive care units were under age age 65, the CDC found.
But older people were far more likely to die from the disease once in hospital – with almost three quarters of deaths occurring in those aged over 65.
A new CDC report found that between February 12 and March 16, 38 percent were between ages 20 and 54. The graph shows the risk of being hospitalized hospital (light red bar), ending up in intensive care (mid-red bar) and dying from the virus (dark red bar) by age
Roughly 47 percent of 121 patients taken to intensive care units were under age 65, the report found. Pictured: A patient wears a protective face mask as she is loaded into an ambulance at The Brooklyn Hospital Center emergency room in New York, Wednesday
The report contradicts the notion that younger people are less likely to develop serious infections, but supports the idea that older people are most at risk from dying. Pictured: FDNY paramedics place an empty stretcher into an ambulance after delivering a patient into the emergency room at NewYork-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital, Wednesday
This CDC chart of some of the first US coronavirus patients shows the percentages of hospitalizations, ICU admissions and deaths by age group
Researchers found that 20 percent of those hospitalized and 12 percent of those in intensive care were ages 20 to 44, essentially the millennial generation.
‘I think everyone should be paying attention to this,’ Dr Stephen Morse, a professor of epidemiology at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, who was not involved in the report, told The New York Times.
‘It’s not just going to be the elderly. There will be people age 20 and up. They do have to be careful, even if they think that they’re young and healthy.’
The research contradicts the notion that younger people are not at risk from serious coronavirus infections, though it supports the conclusion that older people are most at risk from fatal complications.
breathe and make sure we are acting on facts and not fear’, he added.
On Thursday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo slammed people going to the beach on spring break as ‘reckless.’ Pictured: Beachgoers enjoy a sunny day in Destin, Florida