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- Official UK statistics have shown that in England and Wales, men are dying with the coronavirus at roughly double the rate of women, and at a younger age.
- The findings, covering deaths during March, echo numerous studies worldwide which consistently find that men have been more vulnerable to the virus.
- Scientists are still trying to understand why the virus seems to affect men so much more seriously.
- The UK is not testing enough for a reliable figure on coronavirus cases, but the country has reported 13,755 deaths as of Thursday.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Men in England and Wales have suffered around twice as many fatalities involving coronavirus than women, and more of men's deaths occur at a younger age, according to official statistics for March.
The UK's Office of National Statistics (ONS) released data on Thursday that follows a pattern observed worldwide: Men appear to be more vulnerable to the virus.
As early as late February, several studies of people infected with coronavirus in China confirmed variously that men were more likely to be infected, and to die from it.
Similar findings came in later studies in South Korea and Italy, and by April 12 the pattern was repeated in data from more than 20 countries.
They made similar findings for England and Wales in March
Most recently in the UK in March, the ONS found that when adjusted for age, the mortality rate of the virus in men in England and Wales - two of the four countries that make up the UK - was roughly double that of women.
The UK has officially recorded 13,755 deaths from the virus overall, but the ONS records things slightly differently.
Here, the ONS counted deaths both "due to" and "involving" COVID-19. "Due to" refers to when the virus was identified as the underlying cause of death, while "involving" is a broader category where any mention of the virus on the death certificate is counted.
Either way, men had almost double the mortality rate compared to women. Per 100,000 members of the overall population, men had 97.5 deaths due to COVID-19, while women had 46.5.
ONS
Males had a higher mortality rate involving COVID 19 compared with females
A bigger proportion of men were killed by the virus starting at a younger age, compared to women
The ONS also looked at the percentage of deaths due to COVID-19 according to age group, and again more men were affected at a younger age.
Just under 60% of all female coronavirus deaths were in women aged 80 and above. But for men, that's just over 50%.
Women in their 90s and above formed 20% of all female coronavirus deaths, compared to just under 13% of men.
But it's worth noting that women tend to live longer lives than men overall, and these proportions may partly reflect the number of existing men and women in those age groups.
ONS
Those aged 85 to 89 years made up the largest proportion of COVID 19 deaths
Men in most age brackets died of COVID-19 at around double the rate of women - and sometimes more
The ONS also looked at the mortality rate of the virus in men and women broken down into five-year age blocks.
Again measuring by numbers of deaths per 100,000 members of the overall population, they found that far more men had died in most categories.
Only two age groups had women more affected. For people aged 20-24, two women and zero men per 100,000 died of coronavirus. And for people aged 45-49, 14.5 women per 100,000 died versus 11.1 men.
But as age advances - where the vast majority of coronavirus deaths happen - men's deaths began to hover around double that of women's.
ONS
Across all age groups males had a higher rate of COVID 19 deaths compared with females
Scientists have proposed numerous theories as to why this pattern is so prominent worldwide, as Insider's Aria Bendix and Holly Secon have reported.
Smoking, the prevalence of pre-existing conditions, behavioural factors, and biological disadvantages have all been proposed as possibly contributing. But more data is needed to confirm these.
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