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What We Know About COVID-19 In Kids
Reports of “Multi-system Inflammatory Syndrome” in kids suggest the disease may be more dangerous than once thought.
This week, I want to talk about the children.
I am constantly thankful that COVID-19 seems to spare children. Can you imagine what the situation would be like if young kids were at significant risk? I have three young kids at home, and if there was a substantial risk to their lives I’m not sure I could walk through those hospital doors.
But from the beginning it’s been clear that age is one of, if not the most important risk factor for COVID-19 mortality, as this data out of England shows.
Data from Iceland gives us more promising information. Using random screening of the population, zero out of 848 children under the age of 10 tested positive by PCR for COVID-19, as compared to around 1% of those above age 10.
Putting this together, the early data seemed to say 1) that kids were less likely to get the coronavirus, and if they did were less likely to die.