Society

Fatality rate for those aged 80 or older tops 11%

Apr 21 (NHK) - Japan's health ministry says more than 11 percent of those in their 80s or older with coronavirus infection have died.

The ministry said the number of people with confirmed infections in Japan stood at over 10,600 as of 6 p.m. Sunday.

By age group, people in their 50s were the largest with over 1,800.

They're followed by people in their 40s and 20s with over 1,700, and over 1,600 for people in their 30s.

Of those who were confirmed to be infected, 171, or 1.6 percent, died.

People aged 80 or over topped the list with 87, followed by those in their 70s at 50, those in their 60s at 21, those in their 50s at seven, and those in their 30s and 40s at two each.

This means that the fatality rate is 11.1 percent for those in their 80s or older, 5.2 percent for those in their 70s, and 1.7 percent for those in their 60s.

The ministry said the figures show the elderly are at higher risk of developing serious symptoms from the virus.

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