A Monte Carlo Estimation of the Narrow-Sense Heritability of COVID-19 Infection and Severity from AncestryDNA Survey Data

Respiratory infectious diseases, such as COVID-19, demonstrate a host genetic component that contributes to interindividual differences of susceptibility and infection. At present, the relative effect of environmental and genetic factors of COVID-19 is unknown. This research presents a Monte Carlo (MC) estimation of the genetic narrow-sense heritability of COVID-19 infection and severity from AncestryDNA survey data. The results suggest a moderate genetic contribution to COVID-19 infection and a low genetic contribution for COVID-19 severity.