More than a dozen children hospitalized across the Triangle with COVID-19
Hospitalizations for the coronavirus continue to sharply rise across North Carolina. On Monday, the state reported that more than 3,000 people remained in the hospital, which is a 20% increase over a week ago.
Sixteen children were hospitalized with COVID-19 across the hospitals of Duke Health, UNC Health, WakeMed Health and Cape Fear Valley Medical Center as of Monday.
"The Delta variant has disproportionately affected children, and part of the reason for that is relative to the population. Children 12 and under are still not vaccinated so they do have a higher risk," said Dr. Michael Steiner, the pediatrician-in-chief at UNC Children's Hospital.
Only 23% of all hospital beds in the state are open, and even fewer intensive care unit beds are open, state data shows.
"The average age of a hospitalized patient has dropped from around 70 years old in January to around 50 years old now," a spokesperson with WakeMed said. "About half of our COVID-19 inpatients are in their 30s to 50s, and more than 90% of our COVID-19 inpatients are unvaccinated."
Steiner said while the majority of children who are infected with COVID-19 are either asymptomatic or have very mild infections, they are some children who get very sick.
"There are still fewer children admitted to the hospital than adults, but that number is not zero," added Smith. "I can't look a parent in the eye and say, 'Your child is the one who's going to get sick in the hospital and your child is not.' We just don't know."
Deaths related to COVID-19 are climbing along with hospitalization rates. On average, 34 North Carolinians are dying each day from the virus. That's the highest death rate we've seen since the end of March.
A month ago, there were fewer than 100 coronavirus patients at UNC Health. This week, the hospital is treating more than 450 patients.
"In the last week or so, we've had more children in our hospital who needed treatment for COVID [and] admitted to our ICU than we did in most months the rest of the pandemic," said Dr. Michael Smith, a professor of pediatrics at Duke University.
"The possibility of more children getting sick with COVID, given the return to in-person learning, is something we are all worried about," said added Steiner.
The number of people who are going to get their COVID-19 vaccine has been slightly rising since the end of July, state data shows. Nearly 60% of the entire state's population 18 and older are vaccinated as of Monday.
"Especially in children who are too young to be vaccinated -- masking is the single most important thing you can do," said Smith. "For older, middle school kids, high school kids, please get your vaccine if you haven't done it."
Smith said that while it may not prevent children from coming into contact with or testing positive for the virus, studies have shown most vaccinated people stay out of the hospital.
"Remember the early studies [showed] greater than 95 percent efficacy of keeping people out of the hospital," he said.
Health experts said that there are core messages to remember as students return to school as dozens of children remain hospitalized with the virus.
"For all of us, masking when we're around other people, social distancing and handwashing frequently are the ways to prevent any transmission and elimnate the risks of the severe variants and severe effects that can happen," said Steiner.
