⁍ Cancer patients face poorer outcomes if they become infected with the new coronavirus, a new study shows.

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⁍ undergoing recent cancer treatments did not make COVID-19 outcomes worse, so cancer therapies should not be delayed.

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⁍ African-American and Hispanic cancer patients had higher rates of COVID-19 infection than white cancer patients.

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– The SARS-like new coronavirus, which has killed hundreds of people and sickened thousands more, may also be wreaking havoc on cancer patients. A study published Friday in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found that among 23,000 cancer patients who were tested for COVID-19 at US Veterans Affairs health facilities, those with blood cancers were more likely to be hospitalized, to have more intensive care, and to need more help with breathing compared to those without the virus, Reuters reports. Death rates for those with COVID-19 were 14% and 3%, respectively, compared to those without the virus. African-American and Hispanic cancer patients were also more likely to be tested for the virus, though the researchers say the real prevalence of COVID-19 among cancer patients is still unclear. The study also found that death rates for COVID-19 patients were higher than those for those without the virus. Researchers say the brain may be having its own immune response to the new virus. “We have started to define the immune reaction to SARS-CoV-2 virus in the brain,” Markus Glatzel of University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf tells Reuters. “We think that the neuroimmune reaction may be a factor explaining some of the neurological symptoms seen in COVID-19 patients.” Meanwhile, a study published Sunday in the Lancet Neurology found that antibodies produced by people with common colds may not be as effective against the new coronavirus.