HAVANA.- Apart from age and chronic diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes mellitus, obesity is becoming a risk factor for patients confirmed with COVID-19, Dr. Francisco Duran, national director of epidemiology at the Ministry of Public Health, insisted Monday.

According to Duran, studies done in the United States state that young people with the new coronavirus are less likely to be admitted to intensive care units than older people, unless they are obese, which recognizes that condition as an important factor.

He specified that in Cuba there is a high prevalence of global overweight - overweight plus obesity - of around 50 percent, which is closely related to the development of diseases such as diabetes mellitus type II, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disorders.

The expert mentioned that a reference population study shows that overweight in the Cuban population is 15.5 percent and obesity is 29.3.