Galveston County is reporting its first child death due to COVID-19.
The announcement was made by the Galveston County Health District on Tuesday. According to the statement, the girl was 10 years old or younger.
The girl died of coronavirus on Tuesday, September 7, however it is unclear if she had any underlying health conditions.
The US is facing a surge of COVID-19 cases and this constitutes positive cases in children.
As millions of students return to classrooms, the U.S. is facing its most significant pediatric COVID-19 surge yet, with a record number of American children now testing positive for the virus every week.
In the last week alone, nearly 252,000 children in the U.S. have tested positive for COVID-19, marking the largest increase of pediatric cases in a week since the pandemic began, according to a newly released weekly report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association.
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Since the onset of the pandemic, more than 5 million children have tested positive for the virus, and in the last month alone, there have been over 750,000 confirmed pediatric cases, after the country experienced an “exponential” rise in infections, according to the organizations.
According to data released by Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the South now accounts for more than half of all new pediatric infections.
Similarly, according to federal data, the rate of pediatric hospital admissions per 100,000 people is also at one of its highest points of the pandemic, up by 600% since the Fourth of July. The admission rate is also nearly 308% higher than it was a year ago.
In Texas, where the governor has banned mask mandates in schools, there are more children hospitalized with COVID-19 than anywhere else in the country.
“We’re calling this the fourth wave … but it has certainly been by far the most impactful surge — really hitting children and adolescents,” Dr. James Versalovic, pathologist-in-chief at Texas Children’s Hospital, told ABC News.
According to a report written by organizations AAP and CHA, severe illness and death due to COVID-19 remains “uncommon” among children.
However, warned that there is an urgent need to collect more data on the long-term consequences of the pandemic on children, “including ways the virus may harm the long-term physical health of infected children, as well as its emotional and mental health effects.”
