Vitamin D can halve the risk of acute respiratory infection

Keep in mind that Vitamin D is free, and works better, from sunshine. But if that is not possible for you, Vitamin D supplements could save your life. Also note that megadoses don’t improve anything…

Daily or weekly supplementation halved the risk of acute respiratory infection in people with the lowest baseline vitamin D levels, below 25 nanomoles per litre (nmol/L). However, people with higher baseline vitamin D levels also benefited, although the effect was more modest (10 per cent risk reduction). Overall, the reduction in risk of acute respiratory infection induced by vitamin D was on a par with the protective effect of injectable ‘flu vaccine against ‘flu-like illnesses.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/02/170216110002.htm

Children seem to have some kind of immunity, and there are few fatalities for those who do catch it

The virus appears to have evolved into two strains, with the more recent one being the most dangerous:

Researchers at Peking University’s School of Life Sciences and the Institut Pasteur of Shanghai, discovered the virus has evolved into two major lineages – dubbed ‘L’ and ‘S’ types.

The older ‘S-type’ appears to be milder and less infectious, while the ‘L-type’ which emerged later, spreads quickly and currently accounts for around 70 per cent of cases.

Genetic analysis of a man in the US who tested positive on January 21, also showed it is possible to be infected with both types.

More at The Telegraph and the academic paper is here

There are two major places that are relatively unaffected by COVID-19, yet have the potential to become the worst affected.

Africa has the poverty, crowded conditions, lack of services and in some places, cultural practices to be worried about. One of the reasons Ebola spread was a culture of having physical contact with loved ones who had died. Bill Gates said the potential impact in sub-Saharan Africa could be “very, very dramatic.”

India has been surprisingly successful in shutting down the spread of disease in the past. Read this article from the BBC and you get a feeling they are taking better and stronger action that the USA. Still, the crowding and lack of hygiene in places does make India particularly vulnerable