U.S. Coronavirus Rates Are Rising Fast Among Children
Category: News & Politics
Via: krishna • 3 years ago • 3 commentsBy: Lauren Leatherby and Lisa Waananen Jones
Important related Article: Children Now Account For 22% Of New U.S. COVID Cases. Why Is That?
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Coronavirus in Hospitalized Baby. (Photo credit: Healthline)
As some schools begin in-person classes, data compiled by the American Academy of Pediatrics from the summer show that cases, hospitalizations and deaths from the coronavirus have increased at a faster rate in children and teenagers than among the general public.
President Trump has said he would like to see schools fully reopen and falsely claimed in a video posted by his campaign that children were “ virtually immune ” to the virus. Facebook and Twitter later removed the video, saying it violated policies about misinformation around the virus. In July, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, a Republican, claimed that “schoolchildren actually are not vectors for this.”
Dr. Sean O’Leary, vice chairman of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ committee on infectious diseases, said that substantial community spread in many parts of the United States corresponded with more infections among children. At a sleepaway summer camp in Georgia where hundreds were infected, 76 percent of campers and staff members whose test results were available to researchers had tested positive. The youngest campers, ages 6 to 10, were more likely to be infected than older campers.
Dr. O’Leary said there was evidence that minors were becoming infected at a higher rate now than earlier in the year because hospitalizations and deaths among children had increased as well.
Since the beginning of the summer, every state in the country has had an increase in the number of young people who have tested positive for the coronavirus, as a share of all cases. In late May, about 5 percent of the nation’s cases were documented in minors. By Aug. 20, that number had risen to more than 9 percent.
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President Trump has said he would like to see schools fully reopen and falsely claimed in a video posted by his campaign that children were “ virtually immune ” to the virus. Facebook and Twitter later removed the video, saying it violated policies about misinformation around the virus. In July, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, a Republican, claimed that “schoolchildren actually are not vectors for this.”
This new mutation (the "Delta Variant") is different from previous forms in several ways. One disturbing trend-- children and young adults are getting Covid at a much higher rate:
Dr. O’Leary said there was evidence that minors were becoming infected at a higher rate now than earlier in the year because hospitalizations and deaths among children had increased as well.
As some schools begin in-person classes, data compiled by the American Academy of Pediatrics from the summer show that cases, hospitalizations and deaths from the coronavirus have increased at a faster rate in children and teenagers than among the general public.
Since the beginning of the summer, every state in the country has had an increase in the number of young people who have tested positive for the coronavirus, as a share of all cases.
In late May, about 5 percent of the nation’s cases were documented in minors. By Aug. 20, that number had risen to more than 9 percent.