Coronavirus: How does lungs become so vunerable to the COVID-19 virus

The coronavorus pandemic has been creating havoc across the globe and with each passing day the virus is turning out be more deadlier and stronger. The damage the virus can cause to the body is immense however it is the human lungs which is more at risk. The SARS-CoV2 is a respiratory virus, meaning that it can enter and invade your respiratory system, the system from your nose to your lungs that allows you to breathe in oxygen and breath out carbon dioxide. When the infection reaches the lungs, immune system behaves like an adolescent. The immune system can continue to battle the virus, but it ends up of making matters worse.

On the other hand, as the immune system is fighting the virus, other nasty microbes such as bacteria can sneak into your lungs and cause havoc as well. As the damage to your lungs continues, one may develop acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which is when your lungs have suffered so much widespread injury that you start running out of functioning alveoli to do the gas exchange work.  The  damage can even get to the  to the point that lungs no longer effectively exchange enough oxygen and carbon dioxide, resulting in respiratory failure and this were ventilator is required to breathe. 

Moreover studies also indicate that people who recover after being infected with the novel coronavirus can still be left with substantially weakened lung capacity, with some left gasping for air when walking quickly. Some patients might have around a drop of 20 to 30% in lung function as said by one of the doctors. While it is too early to establish long-term effects of the disease but initial reports does conclude the fact that the virus does affect lungs the most.