State Health Officer Dr. Joe Kanter said COVID numbers hint that the state might be close to peaking with cases but yet it’s still too early to tell.
“If it is the cases that we are peaking now and if the numbers do on a statewide basis at least look to be trending in the right direction in the coming days or week, it’s still worth remembering at an absolute level very, very high,” said Kanter.
On Thursday the state reported 14,706 new cases and the state is expected to reach at least 1.1 million total cases today week after eclipsing a million earlier in the week.
Kanter said however the Omicron variant proves it’s much harder on children than others. He said this past week 33 children were admitted to the hospital with COVID and for the month of January 199 children have been admitted.
“Over the past few weeks, kids zero to 4 years old represent the largest share within that pediatric age group. Those of course are the kids who have the least protection because they’re not yet eligible to be vaccinated,” said Kanter.
Omicron is also impacting children with multisystem inflammatory syndrome, a condition where different body parts can become inflamed, including the heart, lungs, and brain. Kanter said we added four cases this week.
“Three of those cases are in critical condition in pediatric ICUs, that’s a severe marker as well,” said Kanter.
Because the highest percentage of pediatric cases are among ages four and younger, which are ineligible to be vaccinated Kanter said it’s imperative those around them be vaccinated and masked to protect them.
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