Pediatric Coronavirus Cases Are Soaring; How Washington Is Doing

SEATTLE — Washington state has officially advised all school districts to remain fully remote when classes resume in September. That guidance is not legally-binding and districts can make the choice to reopen classrooms for in-person instruction, but the vast majority of districts across western Washington have announced that they will comply, citing concerns over the recent surge in new coronavirus transmissions and the safety of students and staff.

Now, a new report shows they may be right to be concerned about transmission in young students. According to the study from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association there was a 40 percent increase in pediatric coronavirus cases nationwide in the last two weeks of July, with nearly 100,000 testing positive in that time.

The latest public health data in Washington released Monday shows that 8,100 of the state's 63,000 confirmed coronavirus cases were in children 19 or younger— that's just under 13 percent of all cases. That age group also accounts for just one percent of the state's coronavirus-related hospitalizations.

According to the national report, pediatric cases made up a lower percentage of a state's total in only four states and New York City as of July 30. Since not all states have the same age range for children as Washington (0-19), it's not a perfect comparison. For instance, Utah's data is for people 0-14 while Alabama's is 0-25. Overall, children made up about 9 percent of all cases in the country.

The study, which used data up to July 30, found the rate of pediatric cases in Washington 363.9 per 100,000, below the national rate of 447. That rate may have changed slightly as the percentage of cases in children has grown from 12 to 13 percent, and Washington has reported nearly 8,000 coronavirus infections in the 10 days since the study's timeframe ended.

Nationwide, the report found that 86 children have died of the coronavirus since the pandemic began, but none were in Washington. However, Washington has reported 11 cases of MIS-C, a rare and little understood coronavirus-related condition that appears only in minors and can be extremely serious. None of those patients have died, but some are still receiving lifesaving treatment. It's also still not known what sort of long-term complications children can get as a result from COVID-19., and there have been varying reports about the disease's lingering effects.

Patch Staffer Feroze Dhanoa contributed to this report.

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