The Center for Disease Control (CDC) reports that Hispanic and Black children are at a higher risk of being hospitalized for COVID-19 symptoms than any other group.
What We Know:
- Research from 576 hospitalizations across 14 states, collected from March 1st through the end of July, shows the rates among Hispanic and Black children are nearly eight times and five times, higher than the rates in White children.
- The highest hospitalizations occurred among children that were Hispanic (45.8%), Blacks were second (29.7%), and Whites were below a third. Forty-two percent of the children had one or more underlying conditions, obesity being the most prevalent, according to the CDC report released last Friday.
- The disparities between the virus hospitalization rates and race and ethnicity are not completely explained; however, Blacks and Hispanics suffer from “inequalities in the social determinants of health” such as limited health care access, poverty, overcrowding in housing, and jobs that are more at risk for exposure said the CDC.
- Minorities are predominately employed in “essential” positions – farm labor, housekeeping, grocery store clerks, hospitality and janitorial positions – putting them at a higher risk of exposure, which the worker brings home to their family. The majority of the jobs deemed essential require close interaction making social distancing near to impossible.
- The news from the CDC comes after the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association published a joint report which confirms that over 97,000 children have tested positive for COVID in the last two weeks of July.
- Though the report does confirm that children have milder symptoms, are less likely to get infected from the coronavirus than adults, and in-hospital deaths are rare, one in three hospitalized children do end up in the intensive care unit.
- Most schools in the US are scheduled to reopen by the end of this month with many opting for online and hybrid learning curriculums for the first couple of months until the rates can be redetermined. New York recently announced they would reopen for in-person learning as their new infected rates have dropped to 1% and 5 reported deaths.
The CDC concluded that with planning, preparation, and practicing good behavior, the transmission rates will be lower, especially in schools and child care facilities.
