A woman turns away in frustration after arguing with a Donald Trump supporter at a pro-police rally on June 20, 2020, in Torrance, California. | David McNew/Getty Images

Researchers are asking if stress could be another preexisting condition that makes Covid-19 infections worse.

2020 has been remarkably stressful — from the fear of nuclear war to a presidential impeachment to a pandemic that has killed more than 186,000 Americans as of September 3. And let’s not forget the record unemployment, the school closures, the police killing of George Floyd and other people of color, the months of protests against police brutality and systemic racism, and accelerating climate change.

Many Americans are understandably feeling anxious about this cascade of events — on top of any stressors they may have already been dealing with. “The technical term is, ‘It’s a lot,’” says Linda Goler Blount, president