I just read this morning that the reason this virus is so hard on older victims is due to our own immune system response. As we get older our immune systems tend to over respond to foreign critters. Many deaths are caused by sepsis and organ failure whereas corona never leaves the lungs. It's actually our own antigens that cause the complications. That's one reason the very young kids are barely affected by this virus. Almost no deaths on kids under age 9. As opposed to things such as Spanish Flu which killed mostly young people. Yes, IMO, nature at it's worst.
The issue of organ failure and sepsis is due to the lack of oxygen to the rest of the body. The virus creates havoc in the lungs and the lungs cannot get enough oxygen into the blood which is why the patients are placed on supplemental oxygen and later a ventilator. When the lungs are too damaged the oxygen in the blood goes too low and organs die. A symptom of very severe Corvid is "blue lips" which is from the fact that blood starved of oxygen is blueish while oxygenated blood is red.
So the virus never needs to leave the lungs to kill you. BTW there are ACE2 receptors in the gut so you can have the virus in you gut too.
I don't know if an over response of the immune system plays a role in this disease, but it did in the 1918 flu where the young and healthy died to a greater extent due to an over reaction of the immune system filling their lungs with liquid. My mom was a baby when the 1918 flu came through her small town devastating it. My grandmother nursed many of the victims of the 1918 flu. Mom was born in Sept of 1918 and never got sick.
A friend of mine just tested positive with a mild case. So I am in a 7 day isolation as I last saw him a week ago.
Cheers,
alexis and Georgie Beagle
" hey mom, where is the credit card, I'll go shopping for you..." - Georgie Beagle
