Cases of coronavirus infections are surging among children and teenagers in California, going up 150% last month, a rate that outpaces cases overall and establishes minors as a small but growing share of the state’s coronavirus cases.
The increase also appears to outpace the number of coronavirus cases among children nationally, which grew 40% in the second half of July, according to a study by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Assn.
Nationally, children with coronavirus represented about 8.8% of all U.S. cases at the end of July, compared to 9% in California, the analysis found.
That number is continuing to climb, with more than 50,000 cases among children and teenagers in California this week, representing about 9.5% of total cases, according to data from the California Department of Public Health. The number is still dwarfed by new cases among adults ages 18 to 50, who represent the majority of cases statewide.
The data comes among heated debate over when and how schools will be allowed to reopen, and what life will look like for students and teachers when they do.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday that the state has seen “encouraging signs” in some key metrics, but “not the kind of stability … that we ultimately need.”
That progress includes a 19% decline in coronavirus hospitalizations over the last two weeks, and a 13% decline in admissions to intensive-care units, Newsom said. About 8% of statewide hospital patients are being treated for coronavirus, down from 9% last week.
A new California system could allow local public health officials to grant waivers to reopen some elementary schools if the surrounding counties meet some state standards. Officials have said that counties with coronavirus transmission rates higher than 200 cases per 100,000 residents should not apply.
As hospitalization rates and ICU admissions fall, “more and more counties will have an opportunity to consider the waiver process and determine if it is the right thing” for local school districts, said Mark Ghaly, California’s Health and Human Services Secretary.
Officials in Los Angeles County, where the rate is 335 cases per 100,000 people, have said that no elementary schools will be allowed to reopen immediately. Teachers, administrators and other staff will still be allowed to return to school buildings if they observe social distancing and wear face coverings, officials said.
“We do need to prepare for the high possibility that once schools do reopen, there will be cases,” L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer was quoted as saying in a news report in LA Times.
