COVID numbers for kids soaring
Another record: 7,127 tested positive in 1 week
The moment Jennifer Weist found out her son tested positive for COVID-19 felt both surreal and unsurprising at the same time.
Weist, 38, of Westerville, knew in all likelihood that her kids might catch the virus upon returning to in-person classes for the new school year. But knowing the virus’ toll could range anywhere from mild to debilitating was a scary prospect, she said.
Within days her daughter developed symptoms and though she didn’t test positive, the family doctor told Weist to assume both of her kids had COVID.
“I was definitely scared to death,” Weist said. “I think the only reason I didn’t freak out more was because neither one of them had a fever.”
Weist’s kids are just two of the
thousands of young Ohioans catching the coronavirus during the latest surge in infections. In fact, more Ohioans under the age of 18 were diagnosed with the virus the week of Aug. 22 than at any other time in the pandemic, according to the Ohio Department of Health.
At least 7,127 Ohio children tested positive for COVID-19 the last full week of August, accounting for 24.4% of all cases in the state. As of Thursday, the 4,819 cases reported the week of Aug. 29 made up nearly 30% of all cases reported in Ohio, according to the state.
The previous peak of infections among kids was the week of Nov. 29, when 5,934 children tested positive, making up just 8.4% of cases at the time, state data shows.
Nationally, new case of pediatric COVID-19 reached their second-highest point ever the week of Aug. 22, with nearly 204,000 cases reported, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Almost 4.8 million COVID infections in kids have been reported since the pandemic began, the Academy of Pediatrics reported.
Luckily for Weist’s children and others, cases in kids are not always as serious as they can be in adults. After a few days of lethargy and a cough, Weist said her son and daughter are already feeling better.
Of the more than 134,858 Ohio children who have been diagnosed with COVID, 1,369 were hospitalized and eight had died as of Thursday, according to the state. That translates to a hospitalization rate of 1% among kids and a mortality rate of 0.005%, data shows.
Still, if the rise in kids with COVID isn’t stemmed it could eventually overwhelm some hospitals or cause a spike in pediatric deaths, said Dr. Sara Bode, a primary care physician and medical director of Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s Care Connection School-based Health and Mobile Clinics.
“It’s not this quick little virus everyone is getting over . ... We are seeing some kids who are having to be hospitalized and be put on ventilators. For them, it’s a really significant disease with a months-long recovery,” Bode said. “Even one child death is certainly one too many.”
Last week, the CEOS of more than 65 children’s hospitals around the U.S. jointly wrote a letter calling on everyone who can to get vaccinated, mask up and socially distance when necessary. Nationwide Children’s CEO Tim Robinson signed the letter that published just days after he and the leaders of other Columbus-area hospitals wrote a letter in The Dispatch pleading with the public to take action.
The letter comes after doctors at Nationwide Children’s flagged a rise locally in patients hospitalized with COVID-19. From the week of Aug. 22 to the week of Aug. 29, the number of kids hospitalized with the disease increased from 12 to 20, with five in the intensive care unit and two on ventilators.
Nationwide Children’s has also been slammed by unseasonable cases of respiratory syncytial virus or RSV for short.
Typically, RSV peaks in winter. More than a year of COVID-19 masking and social distancing kept RSV at bay last year though and doctors believe the restrictions led to an early wave of the virus this year.
With kids returning to school and day cares, Bode said both RSV and COVID-19 are finding more opportunities to spread among younger Ohioans. Delta, which is now the dominant variant of the virus, is also a far more contagious strain, doctors have said.
Following a few weeks back in the classroom, several are reporting dozens of students out after testing positive for COVID-19 or being exposed to a peer who has, said Ayaz Hyder, an assistant professor at Ohio State University’s College of Public Health. Many outbreaks, Hyder said, are occurring as a result of school sports and extracurricular activities.
The highest number of cases reported among Franklin County school districts include 79 cases in Westerville City Schools, 58 in Dublin City Schools, 55 at South-western City Schools, 54 at Gahanna-jefferson City Schools and 31 in Groveport Madison Local schools, according to data released by the state Thursday.
Some schools have been forced to temporarily close or hold remote classes due to outbreaks.
Licking Valley High School went remote with more than 200 students isolating for exposure to the virus. Lebanon City Schools in Warren County between Cincinnati and Dayton. closed down for three days after 16% of students were quarantined.
“The numbers are beyond shocking right now,” Hyder said of outbreaks in schools. “No school district is spared from what we’re seeing right now. It’s really a bad situation.”
Along with school starting up again, both Hyder and Bode suggested the virus may be spreading among kids because they’re the last to be vaccinated.
So far, Pfizer’s two-dose vaccine is the only one to be approved for anyone age 12 and older. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to approve a vaccine for kids ages 5 to 11 sometime this winter.
Until then, the two doctors said it’s important for school districts to require masks for students returning to in-person learning and for parents to get their children vaccinated for COVID-19 if they’re eligible.
While Weist’s daughter is 11 years old and unable to get vaccinated, her son is 14 and became eligible for the vaccine in mid-may.
Weist herself is fully vaccinated, but hesitated to get her son the inoculation. She kept her kids home for most of the past 18 months, thinking that might shield them enough from the virus.
In retrospect, Weist said she wishes she had gotten her son vaccinated. Once he’s fully recovered, she plans to get him immunized and she’ll do the same for her daughter after a shot is approved for her age group.
Weist doesn’t want them to have to go through another case of COVID, though she fears that unless other parents follow suit with their own children, it’s just be a matter of time until her two kids catch a new strain of the virus.
“I was really conflicted about the whole thing,” Weist said. “But after this I’m definitely going to get it set up, make an appointment and get it done.”
“It’s not this quick little virus everyone is getting over . ... We are seeing some kids who are having to be hospitalized and be put on ventilators. For them, it’s a really significant disease with a months-long recovery. Even one child death is certainly one too many.” Dr. Sara Bode, primary care physician