2 more Florida teens die of complications related to COVID-19

MIAMI — Two more teenagers — a 16-year-old girl from Miami-Dade County and a 17-year-old boy from Manatee County — have died from COVID-related complications in Florida, according to health department data.

Both deaths were added to Florida’s COVID-19 death toll on Monday, according to the Florida Department of Health. The state has now had seven children under age 18 confirmed to have died from the disease.

Neither of the two teens is considered a travel-related case, and both had been hospitalized at some point during their illness, health records show.

The 17-year-old boy is the first known person under the age of 18 to have died from the novel coronavirus in Manatee County, according to the data.

He did not have contact with anyone who had previously tested positive for the disease, but it is still unknown if the 16-year-old girl from Miami-Dade did, according to the health department.

Additional information on both teenagers, including whether they had any preexisting heath conditions, was not immediately available.

To date, the youngest child included in Florida’s COVID-19 death toll is a 9-yearold girl from Putnam County. The other deaths were an 11-year-old boy from Miami-Dade, an 11-year-old girl from Broward County, a 16-year-old girl from Lee County and a 17-year-old from Pasco County.

A 19-year-old boy from Gadsden County is also included in Florida’s COVID-19 death toll, but because he is older than 18 he is not counted in the state’s pediatric report.

Children are not at higher risk for COVID-19 than adults, but they can still fall ill with the disease and require hospitalization if the condition worsens, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.