[ad_1]
The UK’s guidance for people age 70 and older to isolate themselves is leaving people ages 60 to 69 at increased risk for coronaviruses, scientists say.
Professor Azeem Majeed and colleagues at Imperial College London (ICL) noted that other countries had different policies, and the World Health Organization said the highest risk was for those over 60.
According to an article published by the Oxford University Center for Evidence-Based Medicine, the death rate among people in their 70s is 8%, and the rate among people in their 60s is 3.6%, which according to ICL scientists was “still substantial”.
They recommend that the 7.3 million people in their 60s in the UK be more careful about physical distancing and personal hygiene.
“In the absence of government guidance, people in this group (60-69) can make their own informed decisions about how to minimize their risks of Covid-19 infection. This may include isolating yourself in a way similar to that recommended by the UK government for people age 70 and older, “they said in an article published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.
“While the severity of the disease increases after age 40, those over the age of 60 and those with underlying medical conditions including, but not limited to, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, and cancer are at the highest risk.”
They cited international evidence that those over 60 are at increased risk. “The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 80% of Covid-19 related deaths are in people age 65 and older,” they said. In China, 80% of deaths were in those over 60 years of age.
Switzerland and France were among the countries advising those over 65 to take greater precautions against infection, they added.
Other scientists agree that there is cause for concern about the age group of 60 to 69 years. Dr Tom Wingfield of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine said: “It would be useful to see what evidence was used to inform the UK government’s decision to define people over 70 as a high-risk group in instead of using a lower age threshold. ” like 60 or 65 years old. This is a really important issue for the general public when we consider that over 7 million people in the UK are between 60 and 69 years old.
“In addition to the general public, it is also vital that caregivers and key workers over the age of 60, including those returning from retirement to work in the NHS and other social care settings, receive accurate information to inform decisions about minimizing your own risk of Covid-19 “.
