ORLANDO, Fla. — The Director of the Centers for Disease Control said they’ve seen a ten-fold increase of children being hospitalized during the latest surge of COVID-19 but not because it’s more dangerous for children.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky said cases are representative to how easily the Delta variant spreads.
What You Need To Know
- Delta variant increasing child hospitalizations
- HHS data Thursday showed 216 children hospitalized in Florida
- COVID-19 LIVE UPDATES: What you need to know in Central Florida
- Florida COVID response
She encouraged wearing masks indoors and having everyone eligible for a vaccine to get one to help protect those too young to get the shot.
"Communities with high vaccination coverage are seeing lower pediatric cases and hospitalizations,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky said during Thursday’s White House COVID Task Force briefing.
Mother of two Jenifer Hills supports masks as a way to protect those too young to get vaccinated.
“Last year these kids sacrificed a lot to keep their parents safe their grandparents safe and now it feels like so many people are giving up on trying to keep them safe when they are the vulnerable age group at the moment," she said.
As of Thursday, HHS data showed 216 children hospitalized in Florida.
Orlando Health hospital reported 16 in-house pediatric COVID-19 positive patients.
Nemours Children’s Hospital in Orlando said they have eight compared to 12 Monday.
Florida is seeing the second highest number of pediatric hospitalizations of any other state.