LANSING, Mich. — The number of COVID-19 cases is going up sharply among children. Children now account for nearly 10% of all cases. According to new numbers from the American Academy of Pediatrics. Our Dan Grossman looks at what experts say caused this unexpected spike.
“Children are not immune. Children can get this disease some children can get very sick from this disease.”
American Academy of Pediatrics President Dr. Sally Goza has been a frequent face these past few months as we navigate this pandemic.
“I had not seen those graphs. thank you, because that’s kind of like whoa- it’s scary looking.”But as one of the leading experts in her field- even she has to take pause when considering recent numbers that show COVID cases in children have more than quadrupled compared to other age groups."
“When we first started with this we were saying children were about 2% of all the cases- so they’re now 9.5%, so we are seeing a number of children that are cases.”
Since May 21st COVID cases in children have increased more than 700 percent while the total number of cases has risen 270% in the same time frame child hospitalizations from COVID have nearly tripled that of all COVID patients and deaths have doubled that of the general population.
“Kids are back playing sports. some kids are back in school.”
“So it would make sense that children would be increasing as well.”
Dr. Goza says as we resume a more normal lifestyle a rise in children is expected but it’s the quick increase in proportions that’s concerning. She says it comes down to one thing doctors have been preaching for months now.
“The whole thing of we need to decrease the community spread of this disease. That’s what this tells me, is that we have not done a good job of decreasing community spread, because it’s now spreading to our young children.
"Dr. Goza says this is not worthy of panic, but it is a sobering reminder that even those deemed most resilient to this disease are at risk and need to heed precautions just as much as everyone else."
“This virus is serious. we’re not done with it. we may feel like we’re done with it, but this virus is not done with us yet.”
Want to see more local news ? Visit the FOX47News Website.
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere.
Download our free app for Appleand Android
and
Sign up for newsletters emailed to your inbox.
Select from these options: Breaking News, Severe Weather, School Closings, Daily Headlines and Daily Forecasts.
