COVID-19 will keep spreading in the following months, and maybe even years, according to experts.

Some parts of the U.S. are marked as new targets of the novel coronavirus, expecting more devastating outcomes than so far.

The reason behind these kinds of statements is a large number of people with chronic health conditions, including high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease.

According to the health-risk index by PolicyMap, the South and Appalachia are the most vulnerable parts of the country where the infected cases could end with fatal outcomes.

A lot of experts from the Public Health Care warn that these areas may not be prepared for the outbreak at all.

Professor Micaela E. Martinez, at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, said: “Places that have not seen a lot of infection yet should be thinking about what infection is going to mean once they have an outbreak there. This infection is highly contagious and we have no vaccine, so it will inevitably sweep through our populations unless we have very tight measures in place to prevent that from happening.”

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the majority of U.S. residents from the South are struggling with one or more chronic diseases, which means they are most likely going to suffer severe COVID-19 illness.

More than half of Americans have at least one condition that could increase the risk of becoming terminally ill from coronavirus.