She also mentioned that the biggest challenge that people with ID face is not underlying education, but a lack of access to health care and education about the severity of coronavirus.

"In times of crisis, generalisations or stereotypes of a person's diagnosis or disability cannot be used to determine care," Bazzano said.

"Individual assessments must determine treatments - and those assessments should not be based on bias or uninformed judgements.

"Our work to educate health care professionals is designed to ensure that this doesn't happen.

"Health professionals are risking their lives and working hard to battle COVID-19, but over 80 per cent of health care professionals have not been trained on how to treat people with ID as it relates to COVID-19, for everyone from paramedics to physicians to nurses, to all frontline healthcare workers around the globe."

Bazzano's response comes after the New York Times published an article showing the surge of COVID-19 cases in homes for the disabled.

Loretta Claiborne, the chief inspiration officer and a vice chair on the Board of Directors for the Special Olympics, expressed her anger after reading the article.

"We are in 2020 not 1960, reading this article saddens me to the my core, but angers me more than anything," she said.

"Special Olympics athletes have the right in the value of life, every life matters, including the lives of people with intellectual disabilities."

Special Olympics have cancelled all sport training and competitions until at least May 31.

They have taken their training online to keep athletes fit, with a series of workout videos starring WWE wrestler Becky Lynch.

Bazzano said: "People with intellectual disabilities should get prevention, COVID-19 testing, ventilators/respirators, and safe at home quarantine, just like people without disabilities - and they simply aren't getting that access."

There have been more than 1.86 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide, resulting in the deaths of more than 115,000 people.