Nearly three million people have now become ill with CV19 and approaching 200,000 of them have died with it (not of it). So scientists are beginning to understand it. And it is very certain who the people who get ill and who die with it are. The vast majority (90ish%) are those who are already ill with other illnesses (comorbidity), CV19 is merely the straw that broke the camels back, just as ‘Flu and pneumonia so very often are. A huge majority (80ish%) are clinically obese. A condition which suppresses the immune system. Also, to a very small degree, they have darker skin.

The science behind this last is very obvious and easy to understand.

The human species evolved in the Rift Valley in Africa with dark skin to protect us from the Sun. When we migrated into Europe we evolved to have lighter coloured skin, because there was far less Sun. The scientific reason for this evolutionary change is that sunlight on our skin manufactures Vitamin D. Dark skin absorbed too much sunlight in Europe leading to Vitamin D deficiency. Lighter skin lets more sunlight in, creating more Vitamin D. Basically dark skinned people are not adapted to the darkness of the European climate (this also applies to the more northerly latitudes in America).

You don’t have to take my word for this. Look at the conclusions of THIS academic paper: “Vitamin D insufficiency is more prevalent among African Americans (blacks) than other Americans and, in North America, most young, healthy blacks do not achieve optimal 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations at any time of year. This is primarily due to the fact that pigmentation reduces vitamin D production in the skin.”

And when it comes to COVID-19 Vitamin D is very important indeed. Because absence of Vitamin D suppresses the immune system, which then lets CV19 in. The scientific mechanism for this is well established. See THIS academic paper.

So in summary Europe has less sunlight than Africa, where we evolved. Dark skin produces less Vitamin D. Deficiency of this vitamin compromises the immune system. COVID-19 causes illness in people whose immune system is not working properly. So you would expect those with darker skin to be more susceptible to the disease. This is all irrefutable science.

The good news is that Vitamin D is also to be found in a few foods, such as oily fish. It is also available in an inexpensive dietary supplement. So the solution to people with darker skin suffering slightly more in the current epidemic is very simple indeed, they should pop Vitamin D pills. In fact, with modern indoor living, people with white skin can also become Vitamin D deficient during the northern winter and would also be well advised to pop the pills.

Finally here is a great video where a doctor explains how Vitamin D is very important during the pandemic: