[Pelham]

Genetics is more of a factor.

The Chinese have more of the ACE2 enzyme in their lungs than others do. SARS and Covid-19 bind to it. This is likely the reason that both diseases have been big killers in China but not as much elsewhere.

[Vermont Lt]

You might want to tell that to the Italians.

[Black Agnes]

The comparison was the virus wrt temperature.

Similar genetics (wrt ACE2 expression) is found in SE Asia as well. But the more 3rd world nations didn’t have the SARs epidemic that HK and Singapore did. It basically ran through an entire hospital in one of those nations before they figured out how it was transmitted...and that hospital was airconditioned. Hospitals in other parts of the region that had SARS patients were, at the time, not airconditioned.

But the ‘doom on Asians, wypipo are protected’ genetics is sort of like damning them with faint praise.

The statistic of 92% of Han/Japanese have the genetic variants that lead to extra ACE2 expression is ‘only’ found in about 55% of whites/europeans. So it’s a matter of nuking the rubble. Even 50% of the population having those underlying genetics is a disaster waiting to happen.

[Thud]

That is not true. It's a bigger killer, per capita, in Italy than in China.

"Genetics is more of a factor.

The Chinese have more of the ACE2 enzyme in their lungs than others do. SARS and Covid-19 bind to it. This is likely the reason that both diseases have been big killers in China but not as much elsewhere."