"Daegu COVID-19 Death in 40s, Medical Staff Determine Cause as Pneumonia" (Update)

Image source=Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] The health authorities conveyed the medical staff's position that the cause of death of a 46-year-old man who tested positive for the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) and died is presumed to be pneumonia.

Gwak Jin, head of the Patient Management Team at the Central Disease Control Headquarters for COVID-19, said at a regular briefing on the afternoon of the 2nd, "The medical staff who treated the deceased man in his 40s regard the cause of death as pneumonia," adding, "It does not appear that there is suspicion of any other cause."

The man died at around 4:10 a.m. on the 1st at Keimyung University Daegu Dongsan Hospital, where he was receiving inpatient treatment. He tested positive for COVID-19 after undergoing a test due to fever symptoms on the 5th of last month and had been receiving treatment at this hospital since the 7th of last month.

Initially, it was known that this patient had no underlying conditions, but after investigating other medical histories, it was found that he did have underlying conditions. Team leader Gwak said, "Among the 169 COVID-19 deaths so far, there is only one confirmed patient in his 70s without underlying conditions." Based on this, it can be inferred that the deceased man in his 40s had other underlying diseases.

Meanwhile, the underlying conditions of COVID-19 deceased patients were found to be circulatory system diseases such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases at 78.7%, endocrine diseases such as diabetes at 51.5%, mental illnesses such as dementia at 39.1%, and respiratory diseases at 29.0%. The average age of the deceased was 77.4 years, and the fatality rates by age group were 0.10% for those in their 30s, 0.15% for their 40s, 0.59% for their 50s, 1.83% for their 60s, 7.09% for their 70s, and 18.76% for those 80 and older. The overall average fatality rate was 1.69%. By gender, there were 87 males and 82 females among the deceased, with a male fatality rate of 2.19% and a female fatality rate of 1.37%.