**2.2 COVID-19 is a death sentence**

Although there is a high transmission rate of the virus, it is good to note that the death rate due to COVID-19 is very low compared to other infections due to coronaviruses (MERS in 2012 and SARS in 2002) and other diseases like HIV/AIDS, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases. Most COVID-19 infected patients will have no or mild symptoms and recover without any professional medical assistance or care. With appropriate care, most infected patients would recover. Most COVID-19 related deaths have been reported in infected patients who are elderly or those who have a weak immune system due to co-morbid health condition like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, hypertension, HIV/AIDS, cancer etc. As shown in **Table 1**, the death rate increases across all age group among infected patients with underlying health conditions compared to those without co-morbidities.


#### **Table 1.**

*Comparison of COVID-19 death rate across age group.*
