Scientists in Poland have discovered a gene that is reported to increase the risk of severe illness, or even dying from COVID-19, by more than two-fold.

The Health Ministry in Warsaw expects that the discovery will help identify individuals having the highest risk from the disease. It intends to include genetic tests while screening patients for potential COVID-19 infections as early as the end of June. 

The research estimates that the gene could be present in about 14% of the Polish population, around 9% in Europe and nearly 27% in India. The research says that this is the fourth most important factor that determines the severity of the illness after age, weight and gender. The research included 1500 participants from Poland… (Bloomberg Quint, January 14, 2022)