ST. PETERSBURG – Children’s hospitals across the Bay Area report an increase in COVID-19 cases in Children.
Children’s hospitals across the Tampa Bay area are reporting an alarming increase in COVID-19 cases in kids, as Omicron cases surge in adults. Worrying, many residents in the area.
“I don’t want my baby to be born and get COVID,” said a concerned Bay Area resident, Dariany Lopez.
“I think a lot of people are more relaxed and haven’t been taking care of themselves, and kids are more likely to be exposed to COVID when they go to school,” said said a concerned Bay Area resident, Ferney Quiceno.
Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg reports they had 17 COVID-19 patients in November, a number which increased to 55 patients in December and multiplied to more than 500 cases in the first two weeks of January.
“I wouldn’t say it’s not a mild variant, we are seeing it in our hospitals, we see both adults and children requiring hospitalization due to COVID and this variant, and there are still people that are dying,” said Pediatric Infectious Disease Physician at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, Dr. Fernandez Bula.
While many children test positive with COVID in the emergency room, and are discharged to manage symptoms at home, others end up in the Intensive Care Unit.
“They can end up with complications in the hospital, one of them is the Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome, that can affect the heart, lungs, and other organs, and it can appear in kids who are completely healthy,” said Dr. Fernandez Bula.
Doctors are urging the community to vaccinate eligible children over the age of five and encourage them to wear masks in schools to prevent the spread of COVID.