Nearly two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers are learning more about why so many obese people are hospitalized and dying from the coronavirus and that could have big implications for Michigan.

Stanford University researchers found that the virus penetrates fat cells, which can act something like a COVID-19 storage tank - and trigger a potentially fatal immune response in the body.

Approximately 35 percent of Michigan adults are obese and experts say that the research underlines the urgent need to address the problem.

Obesity afflicts all demographics, but it is more prevalent in minority communities.