NEW YORK (Reuters) – Pregnant women have an increased risk of severe COVID-19 compared to non-pregnant women, the head of the US Centers for Disease Prevention, Robert Redfield, said Thursday, to journalists, warning that states with increasing cases of coronavirus must take action.
The CDC found that pregnant women are more likely to be admitted to the intensive care unit and to receive mechanical ventilation than non-pregnant women, she said.
The agency said pregnant women were not at increased risk of death. She added that she does not yet have data on how COVID-19 affects the results of those pregnancies.
Redfield said more infections among young people could be attributed in part to an increase in disease diagnosis among that group, whose members are less likely to be hospitalized than older people.
The agency can use the TikTok social media platform to try to reach youth with warnings to keep a 6-foot distance, cover their faces, and avoid large gatherings.
“These critical points we see … are important. And we have to respond to them,” Redfield said, noting the increase in hospitalizations in Arizona and Texas.
While COVID-19 cases have declined in states like New York and New Jersey, coronavirus is on the rise in the south and west as states have reopened restaurants and businesses. Many of those new cases have been among young people, he said.
The CDC said that people with severe cardiovascular and kidney conditions, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, obesity, sickle cell disease, immunocompromised organ transplant status, and type 2 diabetes are at increased risk. People with high blood pressure are also at risk, but less.
(Report by Caroline Humer in New York and Manojna Maddipatla in Bangalore; Aurora Ellis Edition)
