How does COVID-19 affect older or elderly adults?

Older adults are more likely to get very sick from COVID-19. This means that older adults with COVID might need hospitalization, intensive care, or a ventilator to help them breathe, or they might even die. The risk goes up for people in their 50s and increases even more for those in their 60s, 70s, and 80s. People 85 and older are at the highest risk for becoming seriously ill.