An important piece of information that was reported early in the pandemic has not sunk in as it should. The major inherited risk factor for dying of COVID is a gene on the third chromosome known as LZTFL 1. Having that gene doubles (more likely triples) your risk of developing respiratory failure by interfering with the normal immune response. The interesting thing is, this particular gene comes down to us from an early mating between a homo sapiens and a Neanderthal about 30,000 years ago, after our ancestors had left Africa. For that reason, Sub-Saharan Africans do not have the LZTFL 1 gene. For a different reason, Northeast Asians (Chinese, Koreans, Japanese) do not have it either.4) End of January this year Alastair Stewart interviewing a Sage scientist. Stewart asked him why Sage had been pressing for a Christmas Lockdown when Omicron was just not that serious a threat at all. The Sage man said 'Omicron took us by surprise, it turned out to be not as virulent as we were expecting'. This was possibly the most blatant lie I've heard in the last couple of years, and the competition is stiff. From the moment Omicron appeared there were reports coming out of South Africa that while it was more infectious it was not causing much harm, fewer people were being admitted to hospital, their stays were shorter and very few ended up in ICUs, fewer still were dying from it. I was reading this on a daily basis for the first two weeks in December, but the Sage Scientists knew nothing of this, they were apparently taken by surprise. Disappointingly, especially as he is a vastly experienced journo and it was on GB News, Stewart let this blatant lie go without comment.
Think about that. COVID-19 was manufactured in a lab in China, a region where people do not have the LZTFL 1 vulnerability. The new COVID variants have been surfacing in South Africa, where the native population also lack the LZTFL 1 vulnerability. We hear that the new variants are mild in South Africa, but I doubt those reports take into account that the population of that country has inherently lower vulnerability. The results might be different when the strain reaches a more vulnerable population--for example, Europeans (15% carry the gene), South Asians (as many as 66%), and Southeast Asians.
Interestingly, Bangladesh has the highest incidence of the LZTFL 1 gene (66% of the population). In the UK, Bangladeshi immigrants have higher death rates from COVID than other groups.
Dr. John Campbell, my guru and juju man for all things COVID-related, made a video on this subject recently. The first five minutes tell you what you need to know.
Dr. John Campbell: Genetics and Covid Deaths
https://youtu.be/2ItF7uZgRWI