A senior Texas county health official revealed on Friday that dozens of babies had tested positive for COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.
Texas has been forced to pause its reopening after seeing an explosion in new infections in recent weeks. The state has reported more than 300,000 confirmed cases as the number of new infections increased to more than 14,000 daily and deaths increased to more than 100 per day.
Annette Rodriguez, Corpus Christi Nueces County director of public health, revealed last week that 85 infections in the county have been in babies.
“We currently have 85 babies under the age of one in Nueces County who have tested positive for COVID-19,” he said. “These babies have not yet reached their first birthday. Please help us stop the spread of this disease.”
Nueces County Judge Barbara Canales later clarified that the number “reflects the running total” since March and not a “sudden increase of 85 babies who tested positive.”
Canales said Rodríguez was “using statistics to illustrate that no one is naturally immune to this virus.”
“While the elderly and people with existing medical conditions are at increased risk of illness and death, anyone can contract the virus, from the elderly to infants, regardless of race, gender, or economic status,” said.
He added that “a child under the age of one has died,” although the cause of death has not been determined.
Texas has reported a total of 125 confirmed infections among children younger than 1 year, 537 confirmed cases among children ages 1 to 9, and 1,409 cases between 10 and 19 years. Data among children is limited because many are asymptomatic and unproven.
Rodríguez said the county has had an explosion in recent cases. She revealed that 38% of recent tests yielded positive results, although experts say a rate as low as 10% means that there is not enough evidence to measure the full extent of the outbreak.
“This rate must be reduced if we are to succeed in reducing the number of hospitalizations and the number of people we are losing to the virus,” he said. “The next two weeks are critical to curbing the spread of COVID-19.”
“We desperately need it to help reduce transmission of this virus,” he added. “Stay at home.”
The announcement came after Texas reversed its requirement to reopen schools at the beginning of the fall semester, delaying the move by at least four weeks.
Canales said Friday that he “wholeheartedly” supported the order.
“We are at a turning point in our hospitals and in our ICU capacity,” he said. “I think we are at a breaking point with enough medical personnel to maintain those beds and medical supplies.”
More than 500 children at Texas Child Care have tested positive for COVID-19.
Other states, like Florida, have pushed plans to reopen schools next month even though cases and deaths continue to rise. Florida has reported more than 23,000 confirmed infections in children under the age of 18. At least four have died and 246 were hospitalized.
Although children are less likely to become seriously ill from the virus, there has been great concern about the spread of the virus to teachers, school staff, parents, and in all of their communities.
A large new study in South Korea found that children under the age of 10 are less likely to transmit the disease, but children between the ages of 10 and 19 transmit it as much as adults.
“I am afraid there has been a feeling that children simply will not become infected or will not become infected in the same way as adults and that they are therefore almost like a bubbling population,” Michael Osterhollm, an infectious disease expert on the University of Minnesota told The New York Times. “There will be transmission.”
Although younger children are less likely to spread COVID-19, they still transmit the disease at about 50% of the rate in adulthood.
“Young children may show higher attack rates when school closes, which contributes to community transmission of COVID-19,” the study said.
Despite these concerns, President Donald Trump and Republican governors have continued to insist that it is more important to reopen schools than to contain the spread of the disease.
“These kids have to go back to school,” Missouri Governor Mike Parson said Friday. “They have the lowest possible risk. And if they get COVID-19, which they will, and they will do when they go to school, they will not go to the hospitals. They will not have to sit in the doctor’s office. They will go home and they will get over it. “
