The world is currently facing a pandemic of a new coronavirus commonly known as COVID-19. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) over one million people worldwide are now infected with COVID-19 and over 50,000 deaths have been confirmed so far (updated April 4, 2020) (1). It is now evident that older people are amongst the most vulnerable population with a mortality rate of approximately 15% (2–4). In addition, people with pre-existing chronic conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, lung disease, hypertension, and cancer are at increased risk of mortality (2, 3, 5, 6).
(1) Chhetri, J.K., Chan, P., Arai, H. et al. J Nutr Health Aging (2020)