The coronavirus - scientifically called SARS-CoV-2 - latches onto ACE-2 receptors, known as the 'gateway' into cells inside body.
Fat cells express ACE-2 receptors, which experts say may explain why obese people have higher odds of suffering a severe bout of COVID-19.
ACE-2 is also expressed in the fat cells of people with type 2 diabetes - another high-risk health condition driven by obesity.
Some researchers now believe diabetes drugs could be used to fight the infection - and admitted that losing weight may also have a benefit.
The scientists who posed the theory, from Germany and the US, also outlined how fat cells are linked to a lung-scarring condition called pulmonary fibrosis.
With COVID-19 added on top, the lungs would struggle to get enough oxygen to the rest of the body.
The evidence is not concrete but data from hospitalised COVID-19 patients suggests obese people are more likely to die than those who are slim.
Public Health England has launched an investigation into how obesity plays a role in disease severity, as well as ethnicity and gender.
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