Regular physical activity may reduce Covid-19 death risk by one third

30 mins of activity five days a week protects against the risk of infectious disease - Taking regular physical activity cuts the risk of dying from infectious diseases, such as Covid-19, by 37% and reduces susceptibility to such viruses by 31%, finds a new global study involving UCL researchers. The research, published in Sports Medicine journal, also found that physical activity can boost the effectiveness of vaccines by up to 40%. Led by Glasgow Caledonian University, researchers carried out a full-scale systematic review of 16,698 worldwide epidemiological studies published between January 1980 and April 2020. The study found that 30 minutes of activity five days a week or 150 minutes per week, that gets you slightly out of breath such as walking, running, cycling and strengthening exercises can have a massive impact on immunity to infectious diseases such as Covid-19. Scientists concluded that it can result in a "31% decrease in the risk of infectious disease such as Covid-19, a 37% decrease in the risk of death as a consequence of infectious disease such as Covid-19 and an increase in the efficacy of vaccination against viral disease such as Covid-19." Co-author Professor Mark Hamer (UCL Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health), said: "This is one of the first studies to systematically review evidence on associations between physical activity and risk of community acquired infectious disease. "Previous work in this area largely focused on effects of exercise training on immunity in athletes.