Why people with mental illness are at higher risk of COVID

"If an individual had a history of a mental disorder, they were more likely to get infected," says study author Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. "And if they got infected, then they were more likely to have negative outcomes, such as hospitalization and death."

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/11/22/1057258797/why-people-with-mental-illness-are-at-higher-risk-of-covid

"Last year, researchers analyzed data from five hospitals in the Yale New Haven Health System to see how people with a mental health diagnosis who were hospitalized with COVID-19 fared compared to others.

"The risk of death from COVID-19 went up by 50% for those with a history of mental illness compared to those with no such history, says Li, who is now the Chief Medical Officer at the Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD in Texas.