(Newser)
– Hospitalizations among Florida children infected with the new coronavirus increased by more than 20% in eight days this month. Data shows that 303 minors were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of July 24, compared with 246 children as of July 16, an increase of 23%, for the Hill. During the same period, cases among those under 18 increased 34%, from 23,170 to 31,150, according to the Florida Department of Health. A 9-year-old girl from Putnam County became the youngest person in the state to die from COVID-19 on July 17. Kimora Lynum was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection on July 11 after arriving at a hospital with a fever of 103 degrees. Less than a week later, she didn’t wake up from a nap, according to WBTV. She had no known pre-existing conditions or contact with an infected person.
The test positivity rate among children also increased from 13.4% to 14.4% between July 16-24. These figures “directly contradict” Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’s July 16 statement that children are not infected, according to CNN. “More and more studies show that children really stop the disease and don’t catch it and transmit it themselves, so … the default should be to go back to school in person, in the classroom,” said DeVos, according to him Washington Post. Public and charter schools in Florida are required to open at least five days a week beginning in August under an order from the administration of Governor Ron DeSantis, according to Hill. The American Federation of Teachers and its local affiliate are suing to block the order, noting that the state constitution requires “safe” and “safe” public education. (Read more coronavirus stories.)
.
