There have been multiple reported instances in which fit individuals contracted coronavirus, and, in some cases, nearly died.
Charlie Aragon – a 35-year-old bodybuilder from Arizona with no underlying health conditions, who kept up a high protein, low carb diet – had to be hospitalized for COVID-19 for 20 days. He spent two weeks on a ventilator.
Lequawn James – a 29-year-old nurse practitioner and bodybuilder – spent 10 days in the intensive care unit fighting COVID-19. At times, he couldn’t walk even 4 feet without oxygen.
Mike Shultz – a 43-year-old nurse who spent six to seven days a week in the gym before the virus hit – spent six weeks in the hospital fighting COVID-19, four and a half of them intubated.
Joshua Fiske – a 47-year-old urologist and marathoner who ran 16-20 miles a week – nearly died of COVID-19, too. His fever lingered around 104 degrees for days, and it hurt to talk or move.
Based on our research, the claim that individuals who meet certain health criteria — such as maintaining under 10% body fat, exercising regularly and eating a healthy diet — are not at risk for COVID-19 is FALSE. Medical experts say that no one is immune from coronavirus, based on current research and numerous instances of healthy individuals who have contracted and nearly died from the disease. Lower risk individuals can also spread it to others who may be more at-risk.
"Nobody's immune to COVID, unless they've had it already," Dr. Leora Horwitz, director of the Center for Healthcare Innovation and Delivery Science at NYU Langone, told USA TODAY. "It doesn't matter how healthy you are, how young you are, how few diseases you have, how many marathons you've run – nobody's immune."
"If there was no risk in people who have normal weight, we would know that by now," Naveed Sattar, a professor of metabolic medicine at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, told USA TODAY. "That's not the case."
“From all of the evidence so far, it does seem that being healthier will reduce your risks of severe outcomes, perhaps considerably. But some folk who appear very healthy can get severe COVID or die from it. Being normal weight does not protect you."
