The elderly need more attention during the Covid-19 pandemic

Two elderly women stand on their balcony in Pamplona, Spain. Those aged 60 and above are more at risk of death from Covid-19, especially if they have chronic health problems. — AP

Current guidance on coronavirus “largely ignores” the implications for public health and clinical responses in light of those most at risk, according to an international group of global health experts.

Writing in the British Medical Journal, researchers from the University of East Anglia (UEA) and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) in the United Kingdom, as well as the Samson Institute for Ageing Research (Sifar) in Cape Town, South Africa, lead calls for an age perspective to be included explicitly in national and global planning on Covid-19, as well as the urgent formation of an expert group on older people to support with guidance and response to the virus.