FL Reports 9K New COVID Cases In Kids In 15-Day Span As Schools Reopen
9,000 new cases since Aug. 9 brings Florida’s total number of children who have tested positive for COVID-19 to nearly 50,000
In many parts of the U.S., schools continue to reopen, despite mounting evidence that kids are actually vulnerable to coronavirus infections, and that whether they develop symptoms (or severe illness) or not, they can pass the virus on to others. And as we gather more and more information supporting those facts, Florida has recorded nearly new 9,000 cases of COVID-19 in children in the last two weeks alone, amid schools reopening across the state.
The Florida Department of Health just released its latest numbers with data through Monday, and the report shows a total of 48,730 confirmed coronavirus cases among children. That’s up from 39,735 confirmed cases in kids in a previous report that included data through Aug. 9, which means that in the last 15 days alone, the Sunshine State has recorded 8,995 new cases of COVID-19 in children.
As of Monday, that includes 17,311 cases among kids ages 14 to 17; 8,248 among kids ages 11 to 13; 12,946 among kids ages 5 to 10; 7,616 cases among kids ages 1 to 4; and an absolutely horrifying and staggering 2,609 cases among children under one year old. That’s right — Florida has recorded thousands of cases of infants with COVID-19.
Of the nearly 9,000 new cases recorded in the last two weeks, the report says that more than 80 percent of them — 7,282 total — were among school-aged kids, between the ages of 5 and 17. That means that the total distribution of cases among school-aged children is increasing in Florida, where that total was only 78.5 percent of the total number of child cases prior to Aug. 9. Whether that’s an early indication that schools are helping kids spread the disease to their peers is still unknown, but it wouldn’t exactly be surprising at this point.
What’s even scarier is that while Florida is recording increasing numbers of kids who test positive, it’s also seeing a major increase in kids who get so sick from COVID-19 that they need to be hospitalized. In those 15 days, the state’s total number of kids hospitalized from the disease rose from 436 to 602, a 38 percent increase. There was also one more child that died, bringing the state’s COVID-19 death toll for children up to eight.
Statewide, Florida is still one of the most prolific virus hotspots in the U.S. The Sunshine State has recorded more than 605,000 total cases of the novel coronavirus, and is fast approaching 11,000 total deaths.
