Five children, aged between 1 to 12, are among the 596 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Singapore reported on Sunday (19 April). Based on the summary of cases shared by the Ministry of Health (MOH), among the five coronavirus cases involving children, four are linked to the same family member who tested positive for the virus earlier. The other child is also a family member of another previously announced case.
Coronavirus Cases Involving Children
Cases 6322 to 6325, all male Singapore citizens, tested positive for COVID-19 on 18 April. They are linked to Case 3182, a 39-year old male who tested positive for the virus on 13 April.
The children, aged 5, 9, 11, and 12, are admitted to KK Women's and Children's Hospital.
Meanwhile, case 6415, a one-year-old female Singapore citizen is linked to Case 3300, a 64-year-old male who tested positive for COVID-19 on 14 April.
The child is admitted to the National University Hospital (NUH).
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Several Coronavirus Cases Involving Children Reported Since 16 April
There were several coronavirus cases involving children that have been reported since 16 April.
On Saturday evening (18 April), two children aged 2 and 8, were among the 942 new cases of COVID-19 infection reported in Singapore.
Two other children, seven-year-old and a 13-year-old, also tested positive for COVID-19 two days before.
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All cases involving children reported recently were linked cases of family members.
Based on the data on this online dashboard tracking the confirmed COVID-19 cases in Singapore, as of Satuday (18 April) 64 cases of the cases whose age and sex is known, are aged below 18. Male patients account for 40 of them.
Children Get Coronavirus Too, Says WHO
In a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) published on 6 April, it was 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.
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. They also told parents of girls to not think they are immune to the virus.
Experts say parents should protect all children—equally and regardless of their gender.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) earlier this month stressed its warning that children can also be affected by COVID-19.
"The very notion that COVID-19 only affects older people is factually wrong," WHO's European branch head Hans Kluge.
"Age is not the only risk for severe disease," Kluge insisted.
Total Cases in Singapore
As of 12pm on Sunday, the total number of COVID-19 cases in Singapore is 6,588.
There have been 26 more cases discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. This brings the total of fully recovered and discharged patients to 768.
Of the new cases, 68 per cent are linked to known clusters, while the rest are pending contact tracing.
The number of new cases in the community has fallen. From an average of 37 cases per day in the week before, it is down to an average of 31 per day in the past week. The government attributes this to the implementation of the circuit breaker measures which took effect on 7 April.
However, there was a slight increase in the average unlinked cases in the community. From an average of 18 cases per day in the week before to an average of 22 per day in the past week.
Meanwhile, of the 2,921 confirmed cases who are still in hospital, most are stable or improving while 22 are in critical condition in the intensive care unit. There are 2,888 cases who are clinically well but still test positive for COVID-19. They are being isolated and cared for at community facilities.
A 95-year-old Singaporean man passed away due to complications from the infection on Friday. He is the 11th such death in Singapore.
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