Stay In The House: Young Adults Are A Large Percent Of Coronavirus Hospitalizations

Federal officials are warning millennials that they are not immune to the coronavirus and are the largest group of people that greatly impact the spread of the disease.

If there’s ever a moment when other generations are side-eyeing millennials, it’s now. Despite the government announcing the coronavirus COVID-19 as a national emergency and urging communities to stay inside, much young adult community has done the complete opposite. The Washington Post reports that many have taken up streets in New Orleans and gathered on beaches to party.

Some of the negligence is partially due to millennials not believing some early, misleading information about the virus, with some of the rumors claiming young adults cannot contract the disease or mostly affects older generations. But according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 38 percent of U.S. cases from February 12 to March 16 have all involved people younger than 55.

On Wednesday, Deborah Birx, response coordinator of the nation’s coronavirus task force, mentioned reports from France and Italy about “young people getting seriously ill and very seriously ill in the ICUs.” She criticized millennials for not taking the outbreak seriously, saying a  “disproportional number of infections among that group” may occur.

Donald Trump co-signed Birx saying, “We don’t want them gathering, and I see they do gather, including on beaches and in restaurants, young people. They don’t realize, and they’re feeling invincible.” A report from the CDC showed that out of 4,226 cases of the coronavirus, the majority of them come from older generations that are living in senior citizen facilities.

However, the percentage of moderate or severe cases is shared evenly between the old and the young. “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,” researchers wrote. Fifty-three percent of COVID-19 cases are in ICUs, and 45 percent of the people hospitalized are ages 65 and older.