Another New York City child has died of COVID-19, according to data posted this week by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The death raises the city’s reported toll among the youngest New Yorkers to 30.
Citing privacy concerns, the mayor and the health department wouldn’t confirm the child’s age, when they died and if they were exposed at school. But it’s the first COVID-19 fatality reported among minors (which covers ages 0 to 17 years) since public school students returned to classrooms on September 13th. The city’s last pediatric deaths were counted on August 2nd, when the health department raised the childhood figure from 26 deaths to 29.
Fewer COVID cases have been reported in children over the course of the pandemic, due in part to the lockdowns and the prioritization of adult patients. But infected children are way less likely to be hospitalized, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Thank god our youngest kids have been the least affected,” Mayor Bill de Blasio told the Brian Lehrer Show on Friday
Yet when pediatric hospitalizations happen, the kids can suffer routine complications such as respiratory failure and also stand a small chance of developing a later-stage condition known as multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) (or as it's commonly known as Long COVID - JQ LLC)
“Thank god our youngest kids have been the least affected,” Mayor Bill de Blasio told the Brian Lehrer Show on Friday
Admin note: apologies for the long headline, but names have to be named since the city refuses to do it.
