Sacramento seeing more kids sick with COVID. County monitoring as K-12 schools return
Several children were hospitalized in Sacramento County with COVID-19 in July, according to local health officials, who say the average age of virus patients has been lower during the delta variant surge compared to earlier in the pandemic.
County health officer Dr. Olivia Kasirye presented a chart during Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting showing that of 93 hospitalized cases from last month with demographic data available, five people were ages 17 and younger.
Kasirye said the process of getting detailed data for hospitalizations takes time, because the county must request reports from each area hospital. The records are largely incomplete: Kasirye’s chart noted that about 60% of the county’s 8,900 confirmed cases from July had “a missing or unknown hospitalization status.”
The county’s overall July total for COVID-19 hospitalizations is known to be higher than 93 because the concurrent patient total rose from 61 to 180 over the course of the month, state health data show. It has since ballooned to 358, as cases and hospitalizations continue to soar across the county, state and nation due to the highly contagious delta variant.
The incomplete data set also means the number of children hospitalized with COVID-19 in July may have been higher than five. And, given recent trends in infections and the beginning of a new academic year, the tally could grow larger in August.
Hospitals in Sacramento County combined for 13 pediatric patients admitted to inpatient beds with confirmed COVID-19 from July 16 to July 29: nine at Sutter Medical Center in Sacramento, and four at UC Davis Medical Center, according to weekly hospital census reports to the federal Department of Health and Human Services.
However, it’s unknown whether all 13 were being treated for the virus; it is possible that some were admitted to the hospital for other causes but tested positive for COVID-19 upon admission.
Dr. Dean Blumberg, chief of pediatric infectious disease at UC Davis Children’s Hospital, recently said the hospital has seen an influx of young COVID-19 patients since around mid-to-late July.
Kasirye also said during a call with reporters Thursday that anecdotally, based on her conversations with hospital leaders in the region, “they are seeing a bit of an increase in the number of children that are showing up.”
“But we still have capacity in the pediatric intensive care units,” the health officer continued.
Kasirye’s presentation to the county supervisors showed that COVID-19 hospitalizations in July had a median age of 52. She said that during much of winter, the median had been in the 60s.
“That is an indication of some of the characteristics we’ve seen with this surge, especially with the delta variant, is that it is impacting younger people,” she said on Thursday’s call.
It likely also reflects that older populations, long considered most vulnerable to the coronavirus, now have among the highest vaccination rates. Only about 38% of eligible children ages 12 to 17 are vaccinated in Sacramento County, according to California Department of Public Health data, compared to 62% of adults. For county residents 65 and older, it’s 73%.
Children under 12 aren’t yet eligible for the vaccine.
What about schools?
Cases and illness trending younger is a concern as more districts in the region begin their academic calendars and resume in-person learning.
Campuses at Elk Grove Unified School District’s year-round track have been back in session for a few weeks; Folsom Cordova Unified and Natomas Unified started this week; and Sacramento City Unified will resume Sept. 2.
County epidemiologist Jamie White said last week she was “worried about the potential for outbreaks in schools once they’re open.”
Kasirye said Thursday that the county has a school team that works with campuses and districts to help make decisions on quarantining in the event of an outbreak. That team is tasked with helping strike a balance between maintaining safety and “trying to minimize putting children out of school” as much as possible, she said.
“We have regular communications with schools, public, private and charter,” said Nick Mori, a program planner with the county health office who is part of its school team. “They are required to report any cases and close contacts to us.
“As long as they do that, we’re very aware of what’s going on in schools.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state this week announced a new order requiring teachers and other staff at K-12 schools — public or private — to be fully vaccinated or submit to weekly COVID-19 testing. All facilities must be in compliance by Oct. 15.
Juvenile infections rising sharply in California
A recent report authored by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospitalization Association found that COVID-19 cases among children and adolescents under 18 increased 421% from early June to late July in California.
The academy said severe illness from COVID-19 still appears to be rare in children, but also added that more studies are needed to learn about long-term effects. Understanding of “long COVID” remains limited across all age groups.
Health experts have said there is not firm evidence that the delta variant causes more severe symptoms than earlier strains of COVID-19. However, pediatric hospital visits for the virus are still destined to spike as the raw totals of infections among children increase.
Five children in California died of COVID-19 in July, compared to 23 over the previous 16 months of the pandemic, according to the report.
This story was originally published August 12, 2021 at 12:28 PM.
