Men with longer ring fingers are at a lower risk of dying from coronavirus, a scientist has claimed.
Professor John Manning, an evolutionary biology expert at Swansea University, explained that males exposed to more testosterone in the womb tend to grow longer ring fingers.
And the hormone may produce more of a compound called ACE-2, which helps the body to fight the virus.
Speaking to The Sun, Professor Manning said: “The theory is that someone with high prenatal testosterone — and a long ring finger — has greater levels of ACE2.
“These concentrations are large enough to oppose the virus.
“Our findings may be men with long ring fingers will experience mild symptoms and could return to work.”
Professor Manning’s claims come shortly after figures released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) revealed that gender may play a key role in coronavirus death risk.
The figures show that up to 3 April, there were 4,122 deaths registered in England and Wales involving COVID-19.
ONS explained: “Our figures are based on deaths registered in the stated period and include all deaths where “COVID-19” was mentioned on death certificates.”
According to ONS, there were more deaths involving COVID-19 among males than females up to 3 April. Of the 4,122 deaths registered, 2,523 were men and 1,599 women.
Gender appears to play a key factor in death rate in every age group, although the difference was most apparent in the 65-74 age bracket.
In that group, there were 246 female deaths, and 500 male deaths.