COVID-19 cases in children growing ahead of their return to the classroom

Reporter: Sydney Persing Writer: Matthew Seaver
Published: Updated:
Student in school wearing a mask. Credit: CBS

Nearly two years into the pandemic, the number of kids hospitalized with COVID-19 nationwide is approaching the peak levels reached in September.

Pediatric urgent care facilities in Southwest Florida are much busier than pediatric hospitals because there are a lot of kids getting COVID-19 with mild symptoms.

As the number of cases rises, so does the anxiety for parents like Francheska Patel, whose daughter has severe asthma. “Especially now. Everybody’s coming back from the holidays.”

Golisano Children’s Hospital Urgent Care Doctor Freddy Solano said, “it worries us, and it worries parents.”

Doctor Solano is also a parent. The last two weeks have been tough. Solano and his team treat 100 to 150 more kids a week than average.

“I’ve had parents who have waited three hours, yeah, three to four hours, and the past few days,” said Solano.

Not all kids who show up in urgent care test positive for COVID-19, but a good number do. Of the 70 kids Solano’s team saw Tuesday, 14 tested positive.

The good news is so far, cases are mild. “So, in my case, so far in urgent care, I have not seen a severe case,” said Solano.

Nationwide, pediatric hospitalizations are up. Lee Health says it has two kids admitted with COVID-19. NCH doesn’t have any.

Dr. Solano said kids with mild symptoms could at some point become severe. If your child is cleared to go home and quarantine, he recommends keeping your eyes on them.

“Monitoring your child is very important. If you start seeing the kid, having these small symptoms, you know, just progressively getting worse, and you start seeing the kid having difficulty breathing, that’s a sign that you have to go to the emergency department,” said Solano.

It’s not good for anyone when urgent cares and hospitals are crowded. It slows down the process of getting very sick patients checked out immediately, whether they’re suffering from COVID-19 or something else.

While the number of kids with COVID-19 increases, schools are getting ready to welcome them back to the classroom.

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