It’s important to note that none of this research proves that a Covid-19 patient’s high body weight caused their hospitalization, need for a ventilator, or death; it only establishes a tentative correlating relationship. The Annals paper, for example, found no increased risk for folks with overweight or obese BMIs below 40, and no relationship at all for women even at the highest end of the weight range. Nevertheless, “obesity” was added to the collective list of established risk factors for severe Covid-19.