Most patients who are hospitalized with novel coronavirus COVID-19 require mechanical ventilation to help them breathe.<br />That's according to a new study from New York City's Columbia University Irving Medical Center, published in The Lancet.<br />UPI reports the findings also show that 40% of those same patients become critically ill and ultimately pass away.<br />Critical illness was more common in older patients, who had a median age of 62, but roughly one in five patients were under 50.<br />Nearly half of the patients were obese.<br />In general, the findings in New York City mirror reports from China, Italy and Britain.<br />As in the US, older age and preexisting conditions are the most prominent risk factors associated with poor outcomes from the virus.
