Almost four in 10 people aged 60 or over who have tested positive for Covid-19 have not required hospitalization, data from the federal Health Ministry shows.

Despite being among the most vulnerable to the infectious disease, 555 seniors did not have symptoms that warranted admission to hospital and were told to isolate themselves in their homes.

As of Saturday, the figure represents 37% of all Mexicans aged 60 or over confirmed to have Covid-19.

Of the 555 patients with non-serious symptoms, 209 are aged between 60 and 64 and 150 are aged between 65 and 69. Those two cohorts account for 65% of all seniors who have been able to convalesce in their homes.

An additional 28% of seniors who didn’t require hospitalization are aged between 70 and 79, meaning that 7% of those aged 80 or over with Covid-19 were able to recover at home.

Among those who have recovered at home are a 95-year-old man in Naucalpan, México state, a 91-year-old woman in Culiacán, Sinaloa, and a 90-year-old woman in Jamay, Jalisco.

However, many others were not as lucky. As of Saturday, 958 people aged over 60 with Covid-19 had been hospitalized and 160 required intensive care.

Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell presented data on Sunday that showed that the fatality rate for coronavirus patients aged over 60 is 19.3 per 100 cases, more than three times higher than the 5.9 rate among those aged 25-59.

Mexico’s overall fatality rate is currently 8.3 deaths per 100 confirmed cases, although López-Gatell presented data last week that showed that the rate was less than one based on the number of estimated cases of Covid-19.

The global fatality rate based on the confirmed number of Covid-19 cases is about 6.8. However, many epidemiologists estimate that there are between five and 10 undetected cases for each confirmed Covid-19 case, meaning that the real fatality rate from the disease is likely much lower.

Source: Milenio (sp)