Young people avoiding virus

Children and teens continue to be under-represented among COVID-19 patients one month after schools re-opened in B.C.

People under 19 account for 19 per cent of B.C.’s population but they represent only 10 per cent of those who’ve tested positive for the disease, new statistics current to Thursday show.

Of the 952 children and teens who’ve had COVID-19, only 10 have required hospitalization, none have been put into intensive care and none have died.

The vast majority of infected children and teens - 99% - experience no symptoms or only mild ones, and recover at home.

At the other end of the age spectrum, older British Columbians continue to be the demographic group most severely impacted by COVID-19.

People over 70 account for 14% of the population and they account for 11% of all COVID-19 cases. But, when they are infected, the trajectory of the disease is much more serious in older people.

People over 70 account for 44% of all hospitalizations due to COVID-19, 38% of those who’ve been treated in intensive care, and 86% of all deaths due to the disease.

Other current demographic aspects to COVID-19 in B.C.:

— people between 20 and 39 represent 27% of the population but now account for 44% of those who’ve been infected. No one in this age group has died of the disease.

— those aged 40 to 59 account for 27% of the population and represent 28% of total infections. Of the 2,788 people in this group who’ve tested positive for COVID-19, 196 have required hospitalization, 44 have been treated in intensive care, and 10 have died.

All these numbers are accurate to Oct. 8.