Two children with coronavirus, aged 2 and 8, are among the 942 new cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore the Ministry of Health (MOH) announced on Saturday (19 April).
Both child cases are linked to cases involving their family members who got infected of the virus before them.
Singapore Reports New Cases Of Children With Coronavirus
Case 5486, an eight-year-old female Singapore citizen, tested positive of COVID-19 on Friday (17 April). The patient is a family member of cases 4824 and 3431, who were admitted to the National Centre of Infection Diseases (NCID) and Sengkang General Hospital, respectively.
Case 5536, a two-year-old male Filipino national, also tested positive of COVID-19 on Friday. The child is a family member of case 2009, a Work Pass holder and case 4436, a Foreign Visit Pass holder. Both family members are adults and were confirmed to have contracted the virus before him. The adults are confined at the Singapore General Hospital and the NCID, respectively.
Meanwhile, both children are admitted to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH) where most young COVID-19 patients are hospitalised.
In Singapore, most children with coronavirus are admitted to KK Women’s And Children’s Hospital | Source: Wikimedia Commons
It can be noted that for children with coronavirus, KKH’s chief operating officer Alson Goh said the hospital has “allowed a designated caregiver to stay with a child throughout his or her time in the isolation room or ward.”
“But as a precaution, the accompanying caregiver will not be able to leave or swap places with another caregiver,” Mr Goh said.
Cases involving young children in Singapore
Two other children tested positive for COVID-19 in the past week.
On Thursday (16 April), a seven-year-old and a 13-year-old—both Singaporean—were confirmed to have contracted coronavirus. Both cases were also linked to previously announced cases who are their family members.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) earlier this month stressed its warning that children can also be affected by COVID-19.
The Singapore government has mandated everyone to wear masks when outside, with the exception of young children below the age of 2. | Image source: iStock
Speaking to reporters during an online briefing from Copenhagen, the WHO’s European branch head Hans Kluge said: “The very notion that COVID-19 only affects older people is factually wrong,”
“Age is not the only risk for severe disease,” Kluge insisted.
In Singapore, at least 60 cases involving young people aged 18 and below, have been reported since the beginning of the outbreak here in January. The youngest patient here is a six-month-old infant who is a child of an infected couple. The infant, a boy, tested positive on 5 February and spent 16 days in the hospital before finally recovering from COVID-19 on 22 February.
On the other hand, the fastest discharged case reported here also involve a child. A one-year-old import case was confirmed to have the virus on 16 February, and recovered from the disease on 18 February.
Children Are Hit With Coronavirus Too
Separately, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report published on 6 April, found that there is a higher prevalence of COVID-19 in males across every pediatric age group—including newborns and infants.
The report, which studied over 2,500 children below age 18 with COVID-19, said among pediatric cases for which sex was known, 57 percent occurred in males—much higher in percentage compared to adult cases, in which 53 percent occurred in males.
The study also found that most of the children reported symptoms of cough or fever, only 5.7 percent were hospitalised.
Image source: iStock
Based on the data on this online dashboard of confirmed COVID-19 cases, of the 64 cases involving young people whose age and sex is known, 40 are male and 24 are female.
Still, the authors of CDC’s report do not suggest that parents should now be more concerned about their male children—more than their female children—getting severely ill from COVID-19. Experts said it is no reason for parents of boys to panic, and for parents of girls to think they are immune to the virus.
Experts recommend that as parents, protecting all children—equally and regardless of their gender—should be the top priority in this global pandemic.
Meanwhile, Kluge said it was of paramount importance to respect hygiene guidelines regardless of age group.
“It is not only an act of solidarity with others, in particular with those most likely to be severely affected, but also vital for your own health and safety,” he added.
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