Perhaps the first American celebrity to be announced to have died of coronavirus complications is the elderly gay playwright Terrence McNally, 81:

Terrence McNally, Tony-Winning Playwright of Gay Life, Dies at 81

Mr. McNally, who died of coronavirus complications, introduced audiences to characters and situations that most mainstream theater had previously shunted into comic asides.

By Jesse Green and Neil Genzlinger, March 24, 2020

There’s nothing unexpected about an octogenarian dying of this plague. But this reminds me that a couple of the more perceptive observers, Charles Norman and Spotted Toad, independently observed that gay men seem to be suffering more severe illnesses for their ages. I haven’t noticed that they are being infected more (or less), although that’s certainly possible, but there might be a trend that they are getting slammed harder by the illness.

This might be just a small sample size early days fluke. Or it might have something to do with overall average health. Or it might have something to do with New York City. Or it might have something to do with some transmission mechanism that should be avoided. Or something.

When dealing with a novel phenomenon, any kind of recognized pattern might prove useful.