People over six feet tall apparently ‘have double the risk’ of catching covid according to a new international study. Using data from 2,000 people, researchers in the UK, Norway and the US discovered that men above 6ft were twice as likely to be diagnosed with the virus.
The Mail Online reports: The researchers said the findings do not necessarily mean tall people are somehow genetically more vulnerable to the infection.
Instead, the team believe the results indicate Covid-19 spreads through tiny particles called aerosols that linger in the air after being exhaled.
Scientists said taller people would be at no more risk if the virus was mainly spread through sneezing or coughing, which produce larger droplets that fall to the ground quickly.
Health officials have so far ruled out that Covid-19 is airborne. But admitted recently they are reviewing ’emerging evidence’ that it is.
The average man in England was 5ft 9″ (175.3cm) and the average woman was 5ft 3″ (161.6cm) in 2010, according to official data.
The survey results were analysed by a team of data scientists in the UK, Norway and the US, led by experts at the University of Oxford.
The study looked at a range of personal and work-related factors that may affect the risk of infection with SARS-Cov-2, the virus which causes Covid-19.
Respondents were asked about their employment status, income, how they travel to work, if they live with other people and if they socialised a lot among other factors.
Of the 2,000 people surveyed — including 1,000 in the UK and 1,000 in the US, 339 people were over six feet tall.
Analysis that has yet to be scrutinised by fellow scientists showed taller people were more likely to be diagnosed with Covid-19.
In the UK, men and women faced more than double the risk of Covid-19 compared to those under six feet.
The odds were slightly lower in the US for men but extremely high for women — who were more than nine times more likely to get the virus.