NEW ORLEANS — According to a study from the American Academy of Pediatrics and Children’s Health Association, COVID infections in children have been rising dramatically.
Nationally, at the beginning of April, kids accounted for two percent of all positive cases. By September, that number jumped to ten percent.
“I’m greatly concerned about the number of cases in children and yet at the same time, in the state of Louisiana we only have just over nine percent of the total cases of proven COVID have been in children,” said Dr. Michael Wasserman, a pediatrician at Ochsner for Children.
In Louisiana, as of Sunday, there were 15,764 reported cases of COVID and four deaths in people under the age of 18.
“Although not perfect, it certainly could be a whole lot worse,” said Dr. Wasserman.
While not seeing large upticks in cases involving children in his personal practice, Dr. Wasserman said community spread is a concern as schools reopen and sports get underway.
“This is to be expected and the question is how much of this is reasonable and acceptable, so we want to try to minimize it as best we can,” said Wasserman.
According to the state health department, there are 823 cases linked to K-12 schools in Louisiana. Doctor Wasserman said wearing masks, social distancing and sanitization are key factors schools and kids need to constantly be mindful of.
“If everybody wears masks, I think there’s a good chance that schools will be able to stay open, and the children and the staff and faculty will be able to remain healthy,” said Wasserman.
With available rapid testing, Wasserman said the number of cases and the percent positive that comes from it, are the numbers to watch. Those numbers help determine what happens next.
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