PENNSYLVANIA, USA — In Pennsylvania, cases of COVID-19 in children now account for 14.9% of the cumulative total cases in the state. The same percentage holds true nationwide.
"Cases in children have risen substantially over the past few weeks and hospitalizations for children have risen substantially in the past two weeks. Although mortality for children remains very very low and we're all thankful for that. That has caused a lot of parents to reconsider if they want to get the vaccine for their child," said Dr. Christopher Russo, Director of Pediatrics for Wellspan Health.
Pennsylvania's Department of Health told FOX43 as of Wednesday, August 11, the total number of COVID-19 cases involving children aged 0-19 stands at 185,595. The total for children 0-9 is 51,541. For children 10-19, the number is 134,054.
Between August 5 & 11, the number of cases involving children has increased by 1,982 in the state.
Pennsylvania's Acting Secretary of Health, Alison Beam, told FOX43 health leaders hope that within the next 5 months vaccinations will be approved for kids as young as 5 so that more school-aged students can be vaccinated.
"For us, instructional models (in schools) aren't necessarily where we're focusing right now. It is everything we can do to preserve in-person instructions safely. And, vaccinations are what we see as the differential between this year and last," she said.
NATIONAL NUMBERS OF COVID-19 CASES IMPACTING CHILDREN
National data shows children make up 14.3% of all COVID-19 cases, with a total of 4,292,120 cases in children reported as of August 5.
During the week of July 29 through August 5, the total of 93,824 child COVID-19 cases represented 15.0% of the weekly reported cases across the nation.
The overall rate was 5,703 cases per 100,000 children, according to the report compiled jointly by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association.
HOSPITALIZATIONS
Twenty-three states and New York City are reporting hospitalizations of children. Among the states reporting, children accounted for 1.5%-3.5% of total cumulated hospitalizations and 0.1%-1.9% of all child COVID-19 cases resulted in hospitalization.
MORTALITY
According to mortality data in 43 states including NYC, PR & GU, children represented 0.00%-0.26% of all COVID-19 deaths. Seven states reported zero child deaths. Among all the states reporting 0.00%-0.03% of all child COVID-19 cases resulted in death