CDC: LGBT community at greater risk of experiencing severe COVID-19 symptoms

Members of the LGBTQ+ community are at greater risk of experiencing severe symptoms of COVID-19, according to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Thursday.

According to the report, the CDC found that members of the LGBTQ+ community are more likely to have underlying health conditions that put them at an increased risk to contract the coronavirus and experience severe symptoms of the disease.

The report used data from the 2017-2019 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a collection of health surveys that gathers demographic and health-related information from noninstitutionalized U.S. residents over the age of 18 to determine health disparities.

“When age, sex, and survey year are adjusted, sexual minority persons have higher prevalences than do heterosexual persons of self-reported cancer, kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), heart disease (including myocardial infarction, angina, or coronary heart disease), obesity, smoking, diabetes, asthma, hypertension, and stroke,” the report states.