A 6-year-old girl has become the youngest person known to have died at COVID-19 in Florida. Eight children under the age of 18 have died from the virus in Florida, according to the Department of Health’s pediatric report.
The child was a resident of Hillsborough County and died this week from coronavirus, the Florida Department of Health reported Friday. It is unknown if her case was travel-related or if she had contact with a known case of the virus.
Since March, there have been 47,489 residents of Florida under 18 years of age have tested positive for the virus. Nearly 600 of those patients were hospitalized.
Governor Ron DeSantis did not immediately respond to a request from CBS News for comment on the girl’s death.
More than 7,000 positive cases among children occurred in the last two weeks alone. Prior to Friday’s announcement, the state’s latest death was a 9-year-old girl with no known underlying health conditions in Putnam County in July.
The other children killed were an 11-year-old girl in Broward County, an 11-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl in Dade County, a 16-year-old girl in Lee County, a 17-year-old girl. year-old boy in Manatee County and a 17-year-old boy in Pasco County.
Last week, new guidance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the number and rate of coronavirus cases in children in the U.S. between March and July were “increasing.”
The CDC said the transmission of the virus among children may have been lower in the spring and summer due to strict stay-at-home orders, and warned that trends are likely to change after returning to personal learning and other activities.
Florida added 4,730 new positive cases Friday, bringing the state’s total to 593,286 – the second-highest in the country, behind California. The state also reported 119 additional deaths on Friday, for a total of 10,168.
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