Infection with the new coronavirus in children is spreading rapidly in the United States. The number of infected people in early August was more than 11 times higher than in late June. With the resumption of full-scale face-to-face lessons at school in September, there is a growing sense of crisis about the spread of children to the elderly through children, in addition to the infection of children.
According to data from the American Pediatric Society, corona infections in children continued to decline from late April to late June but began to spread in July. In the week leading up to August 5, the number of new infections reached about 94,000, which is more than 11 times the level of the week of June 24 (8447), which was the lowest level recently. Corona infections in children account for 15% of all infected individuals.
The hospitalization of infected children is also increasing. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of hospitalized patients aged 0 to 17 (7-day moving average) reached 203 on the 10th, approaching the peak level in early January, which was 217. ..
According to a CDC follow-up, this age group accounted for only 3.2% of all inpatients at the end of July. However, if the number of infected children increases, it may spread to the elderly through homes.
Face-to-face school lessons have already begun in some parts of the United States. Due to the overall increase in the number of infected people due to the violent Indian (delta) coronavirus, there is growing concern among parents and faculty members about coronavirus infection in children.
Richard Malley, a doctor at Boston Children’s Hospital in Massachusetts in the northeastern United States, told the Nihon Keizai Shimbun on the 10th, “Doctors working in areas with low vaccination rates are telling us that children are getting more infected. I’m doing it. ”
“As the number of infected people increases, so does the number of children who become more severely ill with corona,” he said. Pointed out.
The U.S. Pediatric Society urges the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Secretary to start vaccination of children under the age of 12 as soon as possible, saying “the delta type poses a new threat to children.” did. In the United States, vaccination is currently targeted at people over the age of 12.
Pediatric wards are also beginning to get crowded in some areas. Health officials in Tennessee, southern United States, have warned that the pediatric wards in the state will soon be full. “I’ve never seen children hospitalized so far in the summer,” a state health official said at a news conference yesterday. Between August 2 and 6, 943 new students were infected and 4,435 were forced to quarantine in schools in southern Mississippi. At the same time, there were 296 new infections of faculty and staff.
As the spread of infection becomes more serious, some states, such as Florida in the south, do not allow them to wear masks to prevent infection. The background is that there are many politicians who appeal their political stance of respecting individual freedom in view of elections.
Florida Governor DeSantis announced on July 31 that he would discontinue financial support if the school required him to wear a mask. On the other hand, the school side strongly opposed it. Alachua County in the northern part of the state has asked students to wear masks in preparation for censoring.
“It’s better to lose funding (from the state) than to lose lives,” Simon, the county’s superintendent of education, said in a contribution to the US newspaper. Saki, a spokesman for the White House, told the state’s governor, De Santis, who opposes the mandatory wearing of masks, at a press conference on Wednesday, saying, “Don’t disturb local civil servants trying to keep their students safe.” ..
Meanwhile, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), which has been reluctant to make vaccination mandatory, announced on the 8th that Chairman Weingarten will support the mandatory vaccination of faculty and staff.