Is obesity the most dangerous co-morbidity for COVID patients?

Recently, the US’s Centre for Disease Control said that 94% of COVID-19 mortalities in the US had comorbidities such as hypertension, obesity, diabetes or dementia.  The report by the health agency added that only 6% of COVID-19 mortalities had no underlying conditions. Of the aforementioned co-morbidities, obesity is said to be the worst of all.

A BBC report recently quoted experts as saying that “Obesity doubles the risk of hospital treatment from COVID-19 and increases the risk of dying by nearly 50%.”

Of all the co-morbidities, obesity is said to be the most dangerous one, at least as far as the US goes, in terms of COVID-related deaths.  Daniel Levitt of a research agency compares the data for Japan and the US in this context.

Japan with a population of 126 million has had 1,255 deaths, which is 10 per million.  The percentage of obese people there is 4%.  On the other hand, the US with a population of 328 million, has had 183,000 COVID deaths, which is 558 per million.  Obese people in that country are 40%.  “If the US had the same obesity as Japan, we would have only 3,280 COVID deaths. 179,720 lives would have been saved.,” Levitt says.