COVID takes heavy toll on Pa. children

Medical treatment for child abuse injuries has spiked during pandemic.

Medical treatment for child abuse injuries has spiked during pandemic.

We talk about the damage wrought by COVID-19 in terms of lives and jobs lost. But as USA Today Network reporter Candy Woodall detailed, the virus is taking a hidden toll on the most vulnerable among us — children.

They often might be spared from coronavirus infection. But isolation created by school closures and community shutdowns and the economic and mental strain the pandemic places on parents and caregivers has been accompanied by an alarming surge in child abuse cases.

Reports of suspected child abuse are down in Pennsylvania and that is no wonder, since some of those best positioned to spot abuse and neglect and report it — teachers — for long months could not see children except perhaps via video links.

But as abuse reports dropped off, the number of children treated by doctors for serious abuse-related injuries has jumped, Woodall reported.

In 2019, 144 children died or nearly died of abuse or neglect statewide, according to state data. In 2020, from Jan. 1 to July 15, that number had already surpassed the previous year’s total, climbing to at least 155. The number represents those referred to child welfare investigators, according to the state Department of Human Services.

Doctors at Penn State Children’s Hospital saw a surge of serious injuries begin in June, with some children winding up in critical condition in the intensive care unit. Dr. Lori Frasier, chief of the hospital’s child abuse pediatrics division, told Woodall that that added parental stress caused by the pandemic, including unemployment or having only one parent available to care for children, is leading to abuse.

Abusers don’t usually inflict violence or neglect in the open. They act in private and often threaten children to keep them from telling someone who could help.

This trend calls for all of us to remain alert to and report suspected signs of child suffering or neglect around us and lend support to the agencies that are on the front lines, offering services and support to abused children.

If you encounter families struggling under the pressures created by this pandemic, reach out. The Safe2Say Something program, www.safe2sa.pa.org includes an app that puts users in touch with help at any time. — Erie Times-News / The Associated Press

Super PACs swinging for fences

If the presidential election were like baseball, the regular season would be over. The wild card games are over. Thanks for playing, Andrew Yang and Marianne Williamson. The divisions are done. We know who won the pennants. It’s all over but the World Series.

With 20 precious swing state electoral votes at stake, winning Pennsylvania is like winning a critical Game 5 in a best-of-seven. It might not win it all alone, but you can’t win without it.

And, boy, do the teams realize that.

On Monday, former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee, visited Pittsburgh’s Hazelwood neighborhood. On Thursday, President Trump was in Unity.

But it’s not just about the big players. There is a deep and well-funded bench, too.

Super PACs, those political action committee heavy-hitters that brim with money and looser campaign finance rules than the official campaigns, are swinging for the fences.

Both sides are pouring millions into media buys targeting the state’s voters and issues. American First Action is spending $23 million on a fourstate advertising campaign that includes Pennsylvania.

So what does that mean for residents? A very long nine weeks. Between the deluge of bigticket advertising, the in-person visits from the candidates and their surrogates and a barrage of paid social media campaigns and pointed offthe-cuff comments that could be targeted for maximum viral impact, state voters could feel like they are being peppered with 95-mph fastballs.

What’s important is to filter out the crowd noise and the heckling. If we keep the game being played firmly in mind, it can make it easier to pay attention to the spin. We can take what we see in an ad and do the research to find out if it’s a line drive or a foul ball.

And we can remember the reason Pennsylvania is being taken to this ballgame is the millions of votes at stake. — Pittsburgh Tribune-Review/ The Associated Press