Health
Texas county reports 85 children under age of 2 infected with COVID-19 [Video]
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
- A county in Texas has reported more than 80 toddlers aged between one to two have been tested positive with the coronavirus.
- The data was based on the COVID-19 tests the county had conducted since late March of this year.
- A tally by NBC News and Johns Hopkins University showed that there are more than 14 million cases of COVID-19 all over the world, with casualties reaching 600,000.
The local public director of health from Texas Gulf Coast’s Nueces County announced that 85 children ages under two years old, and 52 of them are younger than one year, had been confirmed positive with coronavirus.
The health official, Annette Rodriguez, said on Friday that most of those infants infected hadn’t celebrated their first birthday yet, encouraging the public to curb the spread of the virus by practicing social distancing, staying home, and wearing a face mask in public.
During a meeting on Friday, Rodriguez primarily said at a conference Friday that a review of coronavirus statistics showed that 85 children are infected, but added on Saturday that the numbers include infants with the ages between 1 to 2 years old.
The data was collated from the coronavirus tests conducted since March 21, 2020.
The director noted it would be difficult for families to quarantine
the infants. She also warned that there is the risk of spreading the virus to
other family members, adding that less than ten infants are admitted to the
hospital.
On Saturday, Adel Shaker, the Nueces County medical examiner, told NBC News that an over a month old boy who passed away a week ago was tested positive for COVID-19. The examiner added that the cause of death is yet to be determined.
Shaker’s announcement was following NBC News’ report that showed a new record high on a single day with 75,775 COVID-19 cases. The U.S has also surpassed 140,000 deaths due to the virus.
NBC News and Johns Hopkins University’s tally also indicated that over 14 million people worldwide had been infected with the virus with a death toll of 600,000.
India’s health ministry website reported the country’s COVID-19 cases had exceeded a million with casualties of at least 26,273.
Meanwhile, Latin America and the Caribbean has now more deaths as compared to Canada and the U.S.
With two million infected people, Brazil could potentially be the number one in terms of coronavirus death toll toward the end of this month.
With its latest statistics, Latin America makes up more than 50 percent of worldwide death count, although it’s only 8 percent global population.
The Associated Press reported this week that the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean estimates the per-capita gross domestic product of the region could drop by 9.1 percent this year because of the outbreak.
Source: AOL
