In reply to Flinticus:
An interesting question here. If someone has asthma and it is controlled by drugs will this affect them? I know 2 people with asthma, one takes daily medication and has not had an attack since initial diagnosis decades ago. Has had chest infections, coughs etc and not needed to use extra medication. Just yesterday he said that if he went for a run his legs would suffer first, then his heart and finally his lungs.
The other wheezes sometimes and needs the blue inhaler regularly.
At the moment both are being lumped into the same 'at risk' group.
The other thing is that the age groups for deaths are quite broad. The 40-49 age group has a 0.4% mortality rate and 50-59 is 1.3%. Then 60-69 is 3.6%. So is a 50 year old closer to the 0.4% than the 3.6%?