Summer spike: COVID-19 cases in kids rise sharply

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The beginning of the school year is coinciding with new data showing a startling surge in children and teenagers diagnosed with COVID-19, as a new report finds that nearly half of all pediatric cases of the disease were diagnosed in a single month.

The spike does not indicate any sinister changes in the virus that would make children more susceptible. And there's no evidence that children are doing anything unusual that would account for such an increase.

Instead, the source appears to be rooted in the communities those children are living in.

Full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak

"The pediatric cases are in all of the same states that we know are surging with adults who have disease," said Dr. Jodie Dionne-Odom, an assistant professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Those states include Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois and Tennessee. Each of those seven states has tallied more than 15,000 COVID-19 cases among young people since the beginning of the pandemic.

Louisiana, Virginia and the Carolinas all reported at least 10,000 pediatric cases. The numbers may be slightly skewed, because states differ in how they define "child" in their COVID-19 reporting. Alabama's pediatric count, for example, includes anyone under age 25.

The increase was detailed in a joint report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association, published Monday.

Up to July 9, just over 200,000 cases of COVID-19 had been diagnosed in kids and young people in the U.S. in total. But from July 9 through Aug. 6, an additional 179,990 pediatric cases were reported — an increase of 90 percent in just four weeks.

Related: The figures show a 40 percent increase in the number of child cases, which total 338,982, according to a new report.

"That got our attention," said Dr. Susan Coffin, a professor of pediatric infectious disease at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania.

The summer spike came after an apparent lull in pediatric infections this past spring. Coffin suggested it was because in-person schooling had been halted, and children largely remained indoors, away from others in March and April. But the warmer months lead to an increase in gatherings.

"The array of activities that all of us are doing has expanded," Coffin said.

"We cannot simply assume that we don't have to worry about kids because they don't get infected," said Dr. Sean O'Leary, vice chair of the committee on infectious diseases for the American Academy of Pediatrics. "They absolutely do."

O'Leary noted that some of the rise seen in kids is likely reflective of more testing. But largely, the spike is related to a spike in overall infections. "In places where there are large increases in adult infections, there are also large increases in infections in children," he said.

Still, it appears children are largely spared the most dire health consequences of COVID-19.

Children accounted for 1.6 percent of all COVID-19 hospitalizations in the AAP report. But that percentage might not be nationally representative; just 20 states and New York City provide data on the ages of hospitalized patients.

Ninety young people have died with COVID-19, according to the report. Some of those had been diagnosed with an extremely rare but serious disease called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C, which is strongly believed to be linked to the coronavirus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The agency has received reports of 570 confirmed cases of MIS-C, with additional cases under investigation.

Overall, children make up 9.1 percent of COVID-19 cases nationally.

The new report comes just as schools nationwide are opening their doors to students once again. While it does appear most infections among young people are mild, some children have underlying conditions, such as obesity, putting them at risk for complications.

What's more, teachers and other school staff may also be at increased risk if they have underlying conditions or are older.

Coffin stressed that the way to reopen schools safely is to control the spread of COVID-19 in the surrounding neighborhoods, even among households without children.

"Schools are complex microcosms of our larger community," Coffin said. "If we're good about wearing our masks in public, and limiting our gathering sizes, we will ultimately get to open our schools for in-person instruction."

 

Other experts agreed.

"You have to keep your eye on the ball when you reopen," said Dr. Roberta DeBiasi, chief of Infectious Diseases at Children's National Hospital in Washington.

"We don't want parents to panic," DeBiasi said. "But we also don't want people to be too cavalier and say, 'I don't need to wear a mask or worry about playgroups because my child can't get infected.'"

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[aubiefifty 18,231]

gosh cj it seems not all kids received laptops and had to attend classes in person or be expelled etc. wow. but you keep justifying it. and a ten year old just gave cooties to a bunch of folks. must be a lie since you keep repeating trumps talking points kids do not get this stuff. now they are withholding info on kids who have the covid due to privacy concerns. smells like a coverup to me. just remember when you get pissed at me you came on here bragging about all your people talking about how safe it was and how it would work. and what about the kids who were forced to attend school because they did not get laptops? are you fudging on that or was it just your little district?anyway.............

 

bgr.com

 

Georgia schools just reopened and kids are already catching COVID-19

Chris Smith

5-6 minutes

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• School reopenings during the novel coronavirus pandemic continue to be a problem, and reports from Georgia’s first week of school aren’t reassuring.
• A second-grader tested positive on the first day of school, forcing the closure of a classroom.
• 20 other children and the teacher are now forced to quarantine at home.
• A photo of a crowded high school hallway revealed that schools seem more concerned with punishing students who criticize them than they are with imposing stricter safety measures that protect the students and teachers.

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The reopening of schools remains a sensitive topic in many countries, as health officials have yet to figure out policies that can ensure the safety of students, teachers, and everyone’s families. Facebook and Twitter just censored President Trump and his team for lying about children being immune to COVID-19. That’s not the case, as children of all ages can get infected and they can experience severe cases as well as post-COVID-19 complications. Researchers still have no idea how infectious children may be, although some studies say that kids over the age of 10 are just as contagious as adults. Even if children do not develop severe cases of COVID-19, they can still become a threat to teachers and their families.

The best examples of how not to reopen schools come from Georgia. A second-grader tested positive for coronavirus on the first day of school, says one report. Another story depicts a more dire story in a high school, where officials announced that students who criticize the school’s reopening policies on social media will be punished.

A classroom of the Sixes Elementary in the Cherokee County School district was temporarily closed on Tuesday, just one day after school began. Deep cleaning was necessary after a second-grader tested positive for COVID-19, CNN reports. The teacher and 20 other students were asked to quarantine at home for two weeks.

Cherokee County recommends mask use but doesn’t require it even if social distancing is not possible. The district said it will require masks only if there is a statewide mandate in place, but Gov. Brian Kemp has fervently opposed mask mandates.

The same report notes that five employees of the Marietta City Schools in Georgia tested positive with one additional presumptive positive. Georgia’s largest school district, Gwinnett County Public Schools, reported that as many as 260 employees have either tested positive or have been exposed to COVID-19 patients.

The most jaw-dropping story comes from BuzzFeed, as the blog followed up on this image that circulated online earlier this week. It shows a Georgia high school hallway that is packed with students. Only a few of them are wearing masks:

That’s North Paulding High School, which reopened on Monday despite an outbreak among members of the football team and cases affecting staff. Teachers were exposed to colleagues who tested positive, but the school won’t formally confirm any coronavirus infections citing privacy reasons. The school’s administration won’t even tell other staffers who may have been exposed to the illness. Instead, they’ll have to wait for contact tracers to reach out.

Some students, teachers, and families are worried about the risks of getting COVID-19, while others have the same ignorant “if I get it, I get it” mentality that we’ve seen elsewhere during the novel coronavirus pandemic. Needless to say, that puts lives at risk.

Students who did not enroll in the limited virtual learning option were forced to attend school in person. Not coming to school wasn’t an option, as students who failed to show up would risk suspension and expulsion. Other families had no choice but to send their kids to school because they lacked the necessary equipment — a computer or tablet for each child — that would let them study from home.

The district isn’t requiring face masks either, calling them a “personal choice.” Moreover, school officials said that social distancing “will not be possible to enforce” in “most cases.”

If that’s not enough, the final paragraph of BuzzFeed’s detailed coverage should send you over the edge:

On Wednesday, the school addressed the controversy that had swirled around the viral photograph via an intercom announcement from North Paulding High School principal Gabe Carmona. In it, according to two people familiar with the situation, he stated that any student found criticizing the school on social media could face disciplinary consequences.

Attempting to censor criticism that could potentially save lives is definitely not the way to handle any of this. Georgia’s COVID-19 caseload surpassed 201,000 as of Thursday afternoon. Nearly 4,000 infected people died so far in the state.

Chris Smith started writing about gadgets as a hobby, and before he knew it he was sharing his views on tech stuff with readers around the world. Whenever he's not writing about gadgets he miserably fails to stay away from them, although he desperately tries. But that's not necessarily a bad thing.

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well gosh darn cj...........must not be that safe huh?

Hundreds of students across US in quarantine after COVID-19 outbreaks at reopened schools

By Austin Williams

4-5 minutes

article

FILE - Cheryl Nicholas, Principal of Layer Elementary School, explains to the media the social distancing and other health precautions that have been initiated at the school a week before classes begin for the year during the COVID-19 pandemic on Aug (Photo by Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES - The school year is already off to a troubled start as hundreds of U.S. students were forced to quarantine after individuals tested positive for COVID-19 at their respective schools.

President Donald Trump and his administration continue to aggressively push for schools to reopen, as parents, educators and health officials continue to discuss the risks of sending children back to school amid the ongoing pandemic. 

Here is a look at some of the COVID-19 outbreaks and quarantines that have occurred at schools in different states:

Georgia

On Aug. 11, the Cherokee County School District, the largest in Georgia, released a statement saying that since the district reopened, 925 students students and staff were sent into quarantine. According to the district, 59 students, teachers and staff members had tested positive for COVID-19 so far.

The next day, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Brian V. Hightower said that 289 students at Woodstock High School were in quarantine and that school would be temporarily closing in-person instruction with reopening scheduled for Aug. 31. Hightower also said in the statement that the number positive cases at the school had increased to 14, with 15 students still pending.

“We anticipate, as we have communicated throughout this process, there will be additional quarantines and school closures as we operate during this pandemic,” according to the district’s statement.

RELATED: Some parents reporting children are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms lasting months

Children, families participate in DIY experiment to help determine role kids play in spreading COVID-19

According to the Associated Press, present evidence suggests that children are less likely to become infected with the novel coronavirus than adults.

The announcement of Woodstock High School’s closure came a day after the district said it would close Etowah High School, which made headlines last week after a photo showed dozens of mask-less students squeezed together for first-day-of-school senior photos. Both Woodstock and Etowah High School have about 2,500 students.

A image of students packing a hallway at North Paulding High School in Dallas, Georgia stirred similar controversy.

Barbara Jacoby, a spokeswoman for the Cherokee County School District, said that they anticipated that staff and students could test positive, “which is why we put a system into place to quickly contact trace, mandate quarantines, notify parents and report cases and quarantines to the entire community.”

RELATED: CoronavirusNOW.com, FOX launches national hub for COVID-19 news and updates

Indiana

On Tuesday, the Delaware Community Schools in Indiana sent 228 students home to quarantine after a football player at Delta High School tested positive for COVID-19. The district said it was only aware of one confirmed case, according to an Aug. 11 report from The Star Press.

Louisiana

On Aug. 12, The New Orleans Advocate reported that 75 first-grade students and six teachers from the Dr. John Ochsner Discovery Health Sciences Academy in Jefferson, Louisiana, went into quarantine for two weeks after a student tested positive for COVID-19.

Mississippi

Last week, the Washington Post reported that 116 students from schools in Corinth, Mississippi, were sent home to quarantine after six students and one staff member tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Superintendent Lee Childress said in a Facebook Live broadcast on Aug. 4 that “just because you begin to have positive cases, that is not a reason for closing school.”

Hundreds of students at Northeast Mississippi Community College were asked to quarantine after nine COVID-19 cases were reported on the school’s grounds since classes resumed on Aug. 3, according to the Daily Journal.

 

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well gosh cj we have a huge upswing in kids you said were not likely to get covid. have you been a bad boy and been hitting my bong?

 

COVID-19 cases in children up 90 percent as some return to school

Vic Micolucci

3-4 minutes

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Parents face difficult decisions as schools reopen amid coronavirus pandemic

 

 

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As some counties reopen schools, and others have start dates around the corner, Jacksonville-area parents have to make the difficult choice about sending their kids back on campus during the pandemic.

A new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics found there’s been a 90-percent increase in children’s known cases in the past month across the country. And many believe the virus will spread exponentially in the classroom.

“I’m happy to be back in school,” said 10-year-old Romel Petersen. “It was pretty difficult, but now it’s time to go back.”

Petersen was excited to return to his private school in Arlington and knows about safety during the pandemic. “I put on a mask, get on my hand sanitizer, wash my hands with soap and all that good stuff,” he said.

His mother, Shakima Petersen, said he’s smart about staying safe and distance learning wasn’t working out.

“Home learning, he wasn’t really getting it last year, it was a tough time,” she said.

The Petersens are not alone, as families across Florida and Georgia are making the call about going back to school this fall while coronavirus cases in kids spike.

RELATED: Pediatricians say schools need $200 billion from feds to reopen safely

Figures from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association show a sizable jump in cases – 90 percent in four weeks nationwide.

In Florida, 28,281 children under age 14 have tested positive for COVID-19 since testing began, 320 of them hospitalized, compared to 16,427 confirmed cases and 263 hospitalizations among children in Georgia.

The virus has killed three children in Florida and one in Georgia. Among them was 9-year-old Kymora Lynum from Putnam County, who died from the virus last month.

RELATED: Family remembers ‘remarkable’ girl who died of coronavirus

Tuesday, school officials announced 900 students and staff at a north Georgia high school were in quarantine right after returning to campus.

“We have probably seen an increase in testing minors, kids in the past two weeks,” said David Mankus, the site manager for Avecina Medical’s drive thru rapid testing location in Arlington. “Approximately 10% test positive.”

Mankus said kids come through daily for tests and many are sick.

“The rate of positivity for kids, it’s really no different than adults,” said Avecina CEO and Medical Director Dr. Saman Soleymani. “They’re able to contract the virus at the same rate.”

Soleymani noted that most of the cases among children are mild, but he said the virus can easily spread to those more at risk, like parents and grandparents.

“We have many, many examples within our own practice where a child has gotten it and a few days later the parents tested positive or someone else around them tested positive,” Soleymani said.

He said while kids are often asymptomatic, it’s believed they can still carry the virus. He said the sickness can especially affect those who are immunocompromised, who have asthma or diabetes.

Copyright 2020 by WJXT News4Jax - All rights reserved.

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al.com

 

7,000 Alabama children ages 5-17 have tested positive for coronavirus since March, ADPH says

By Leada Gore | lgore@al.com

2 minutes

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Mendy McNulty swabs the nose of her son, Andrew, 7, Tuesday, July 28, 2020, in their home. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)AP

Newly released demographic data shows 7,000 Alabama children have tested positive for coronavirus since March.

The Alabama Department of Health’s dashboard now shows case breakdowns for ages 5-17 and 18-24, a change from the previous 5-24 division. The change comes as schools across Alabama are opening up for students, with some already having to change schedules of quarantine students due to COVID cases.

The data shows just under 7% of Alabama’s 101,496 coronavirus cases are among those in the 5-17 age group. The 18-24 age group accounts for 14% of the cases. The greatest percentage of cases – 40% - are among those 25-49.

Alabama Department of Public Health’s Dr. Karen Landers confirmed to AL.com the demographic breakdown is new. It reflects numbers for the entire state and county-by-county information was not available. Data on when the positive cases were reported was not included.

The demographics breakdown is not yet part of the the two-page case update posted each day by ADPH. The breakdown show the 5-24 age group accounts for 0.2% of the state’s coronavirus deaths, all of whom had underlying conditions. The state had earlier listed an infant under its COVID-19-related deaths among those with no underlying conditions but moved the death to those with underlying conditions this week.

The current age range for Alabama’s coronavirus deaths among those with no underlying conditions is 33-10 with the median age of 75.

As of Friday morning, Alabama has had 1,821 coronavirus deaths.

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Spreadsheet of schools closures, quarantines, or deaths: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQSD9mm5HTXhxAiHabZA6BPUByWBlP5HZ2jfOPEeGZkMB0ZFsmFBL5orqjIq22mjFNZ7n-11ObCylGn/pubhtml?fbclid=IwAR2tJ8yDVehGpxoP97Cco5HYAxoN014opwwm6uYt4s3E2xDr_8u9KF_LlgI