(CNN) – Emma, a 12-year-old girl, is “fighting for her life” in an Atlanta hospital after testing positive for coronavirus, according to her cousin.
Justin Anthony told CNN that Emma was diagnosed with pneumonia on March 15 and tested positive for coronavirus on Friday night. As of Saturday, she was hooked up to a fan and is currently in stable condition, Anthony said.
Emma had no pre-existing conditions. He has not traveled recently and it is unknown how he contracted the virus, according to Anthony.
The Atlanta-Scottish Rite Children’s Healthcare hospital confirmed that a current patient tested positive for Covid-19, although he declined to elaborate.
“The patient remains in isolation and we have consistently used appropriate precautions. Additional details will not be released due to patient privacy laws, ”said hospital spokeswoman Jessica Pope.
Health experts have said that the elderly and people with underlying health problems are at increased risk of death from the new coronavirus. Children contract and spread the virus, but generally develop mild cases of the disease.
Of the nearly 45,000 confirmed cases in China, as of February 11, there was only one death of someone under the age of 20, according to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and there were no deaths among children under the age of 10.
Of the 731 confirmed and 1,412 suspected Covid-19 cases of children in China, only one 14-year-old boy died. In addition, almost 6% of children’s cases were severe, compared to 18.5% of adults who experienced severe symptoms, a study found that will be published in the scientific journal Pediatrics in June.
Young adults do better than the elderly, but they are also not immune to the virus.
A report released Wednesday by the United States CDC shows that younger people account for a large share of hospitalizations. Up to 20% of people hospitalized with coronavirus in the United States are young adults ages 20 to 44, the study showed.
The study looked at the cases of approximately 2,500 patients in the United States whose ages were known. No admissions to the intensive care unit for children under 19 were reported, according to the report.
Anthony told CNN that he has the approval of Emma’s mother to tell her story. He said he wants people to know the severity of the coronavirus.
“I know firsthand how dangerous it is,” he said. “Everyone keeps saying, ‘It doesn’t affect younger people.'” But here is a 12-year-old girl who is fighting for her life. People need to practice social distancing. People need to take care of their children. People should take this seriously. “
As of March 23, more than 600 cases of coronavirus had been confirmed in Georgia, including 25 deaths, according to the latest data.
– CNN’s Eric Levenson contributed to this report.
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