Wuhan: A new study indicates that people with type O blood have a lower risk of contracting the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 than people with other blood types.
Researchers have also discovered that people with type O blood are less likely to develop a serious illness if they do have the virus.
The findings are very similar to a study that was published in June where researchers concluded that people with type A blood were associated with having a 45% higher risk of contracting the novel coronavirus.
These researchers studied as many as 1,900 people in Spain and Italy who were seriously ill with COVID-19 and compared their results with 2,000 people who were not sick.
"These results can't be used to lessen the serious precautions that everyone needs to take, regardless of their blood type," said Dr Mary Cushman, professor at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont.
She further added, "Someone on social media this weekend wondered if the type O people in families should be the ones sent out for shopping, for instance. We definitely don't want people thinking they can be protected and don't have to take precautions because they are type O."
The study results from the month of March came out of Wuhan, China, where the first known cases of COVID-19 were discovered.
In the study, scientists looked at the blood types of 2,173 people who had been diagnosed with COVID-19 and compared that with blood types of the general population in that region.
The result was that in the normal population, type A was 31%, type B was 24%, type AB was 9% and type O was 34%.
In those with the virus, type A was 38%, type B was 26%, type AB was 10% and type O was 25%.
The researchers concluded that "blood group A had a significantly higher risk for COVID-19 compared with non-A blood groups. Whereas blood group O had a significantly lower risk for the infectious disease compared with non-A blood groups."
Everyone must continue to follow the COVID-19 guidelines regardless of which blood group they belong to.