While the COVID-19 pandemic is still going its course in India, a notion among young Indians was previously created that the virus is only mostly dangerous to older individuals. But the Health Ministry put that false notion to rest with some alarming, new statistics.

The new figures prove that, in fact, young Indians are at higher risk of contracting the disease as about 60 per cent of the patients are under the age of 50.

Data show that 391 confirmed cases, or 22 per cent, are those between the ages of 30 and 39, followed by 376 patients (21 per cent) who are in their 20s while 17 per cent are in their 40s.

 

#Watch | “47% of #coronavirus cases in India are reported among those under 40″: Lav Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry#CoronavirusOutbreak #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/qPCC7ruRLO

 

— NDTV (@ndtv) April 6, 2020

However, this notion was not formed on false facts or data, so they were not completely wrong to think so. Since early reports from other countries, such as China and Italy, showed that the most vulnerable category is that of older people. But in India, the same pattern does not seem to take place. Patients over the age of 60 are only 19 per cent of the total confirmed cases while people aged 80 and older account for less than 2 per cent of the total confirmed cases of COVID-19.