These are the factors that put Covid-19 patients at risk of dying: UK boffins

The largest study yet of Covid-19 patients has found that the main risks for severe illness or death are age, male sex, obesity and underlying illness.

The risk of death increases in obese men who are over 50 and in those with heart, lung, liver and kidney disease, according to a study in the British Medical Journal of more than 43,000 patients admitted to hospital in the UK.

The average age of patients in the study was 73, and men made up 60%. Just over a quarter (26%) of all Covid-19 patients in hospital died, 54% were discharged, and the rest were still in hospital when the study was published.

For patients who required mechanical ventilation, outcomes were poorer: 37% died, 17% were discharged and 46% remained in hospital.

The findings of the study is in line with global patterns, with the addition of obesity as a risk factor not seen in China, and show that severe Covid-19 leads to long hospital stays and a high mortality rate.