People who are vitamin D deficient are 14 times more likely to have severe COVID-19 and to die from the disease, according to research from scientists in Israel. The peer-reviewed study, published in the journal PLoS ONE, looked at vitamin D levels before a person contracted COVID-19 and the disease’s severity and mortality. Researchers from Azrieli Faculty of Medicine of Bar-Ilan University and the Galilee Medical Center found that patients with vitamin D deficiency (less than 20 ng/mL) were 14 times more likely to have a severe or critical case of COVID-19, compared to those with levels of vitamin D at more than 40 ng/mL. Amiel Dror, the lead researcher of the study, said results of the study suggest it is “advisable to maintain normal levels of vitamin D. “This will be beneficial to those who contract the virus,” he said in a statement. “There is a clear consensus for vitamin D supplementation …