April 6, 2020 / RICHARD HARRIS
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more reassuring news about coronavirus infections among children.
A study published Monday finds that people in the United States under the age of 18 are far less likely to fall ill with COVID-19 or require intensive care, compared with older Americans.
The study looked at about 149,000 infections for which age was known that were reported in the U.S. through April 2. Of those, 2,572 were among people under the age of 18. That’s less than 2% of total cases, even though that age group makes up 22% of the U.S. population.
The CDC cautions that most reports of coronavirus cases among children are incomplete, which adds uncertainty to the report’s specific numbers.
Relatively few children with COVID-19 ended up in the hospital, and fewer still required intensive care. But hospitalization status was known in only 29% of cases involving children.
