SALT LAKE CITY — News of President Donald Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis may have caused you to think about how the virus impacts people near the president’s age. He is 74.
Sen. Mike Lee, who also tested positive for the virus, is 49, and if statistics are a guide, his diagnosis is far less likely to lead to hospitalization or death.
The fact is, statistics aren’t a guide to tell us what will happen to any individual. They are, however, helpful in strategizing as communities and individuals. They help us understand who is most likely to be vulnerable so we take the proper precautions.
That’s all a long way of saying: This information is not meant to predict how the president or Sen. Lee will do.
One out of every five Utahns in the president’s age group, which is 65-84, go to the hospital if they test positive for coronavirus.
One in every 22 of them die from the illness.
For Utahns in Lee’s age range — 45-64 — hospitalization is one in every twelve.
One in every 157 of them die.
Here are some generalized numbers for Utahns hospitalized for or killed by the virus:
