People aged 20 to 44 make up a significant portion of those hospitalized for the Chinese coronavirus in the United States, according to data released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“Among 508 (12%) patients known to have been hospitalized, 9% were aged 85 years, 26% were aged 65–84 years, 17% were aged 55–64 years, 18% were 45–54 years, and 20% were aged 20–44 years,” the report by the CDC said.

The article continued:

Since February 12, 4,226 COVID-19 cases were reported in the United States; 31% of cases, 45% of hospitalizations, 53% of ICU admissions, and 80% of deaths occurred among adults aged ≥65 years with the highest percentage of severe outcomes among persons aged ≥85 years.

These findings are similar to data from China, which indicated >80% of deaths occurred among persons aged ≥60 years (3). These preliminary data also demonstrate that severe illness leading to hospitalization, including ICU admission and death, can occur in adults of any age with COVID-19.

In contrast, persons aged ≤19 years appear to have milder COVID-19 illness, with almost no hospitalizations or deaths reported to date in the United States in this age group.

Wednesday at the White House, Dr. Deborah Birx, coronavirus response coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force, said the mortality rate would be higher in the early stages of the disease because those patients were sickest, according to Breitbart News.

However, Birx added that the risk of becoming seriously ill among the majority of citizens was low, but they could still transmit the disease to the elderly if they did not heed the recommended precautions.

“If we’re going to solve this with a lower death rate, we have to protect the elderly because of their percent is much higher in mortality than any other age group,” she concluded.

Thursday, President Trump said officials were working to make the already developed anti-malaria drug, chloroquine, available almost immediately to treat people diagnosed with the coronavirus, Breitbart News reported.

“The nice part is it’s been around for a long time, so we know that if things don’t go as planned, it’s not going to kill anybody,” he stated.