US registers record of minors hospitalized by COVID-19

The number of children hospitalized with COVID-19 in the United States hit a record 902 on Saturday as hospitals across the south of the country struggled to combat outbreaks caused by the highly communicable Delta variant.

The Delta variant, which is spreading rapidly among the unvaccinated portion of the U.S. population, has caused hospitalizations to skyrocket in recent weeks, bringing the number of pediatric hospitalizations to 1,902, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services of the country.

Children currently account for about 2.4 percent of COVID-19 hospitalizations in the US. Children under the age of 12 are not eligible to receive the vaccine, making them more vulnerable to infection with the new variant than before in the pandemic.

The number of newly hospitalized COVID-19 patients ages 18-29, 30-39 and 40-49 also hit record highs this week, according to CDC data.

The surge in new cases has increased tension between conservative state leaders and local districts over whether children should be required to wear masks to school when they return to classrooms this month.

School districts in Florida, Texas and Arizona have mandated that masks be worn in schools, defying orders from Republican state governors prohibiting districts from enforcing such rules.

The administration of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has threatened to withhold funds from districts that impose mask requirements, and Texas Governor Greg Abbott is appealing to the state Supreme Court to revoke the county’s mandate. Dallas, the Dallas Morning News reported.

A fifth of COVID-19 hospitalizations in the country are in Florida, where the number of patients hospitalized for the disease hit a record 16,100 on Saturday. More than 90 percent of the state’s intensive care beds are occupied, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services.

Low vaccination rates have allowed the Delta variant outbreak to accelerate, with some of the highest rates of infections and the sickest patients concentrated in states where residents have been hesitant to be inoculated. Just over 50 percent of the United States population is fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.

The United States now averages about 129,000 new COVID-19 cases a day, a number that has doubled in just over two weeks.

The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients is at a six-month high, and an average of 600 people die each day from coronavirus, double the death rate seen at the end of July.

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