Omicron and children: Pediatric hospitals in parts of U.S. filling fast
Source: Washington Post
Health
Omicron and children: Pediatric hospitals in parts of U.S. filling fast
About 800 kids have been admitted nearly every day this week, with those in Ohio, Texas, Pennsylvania and New York hit particularly hard by the juggernaut variant.
By Ariana Eunjung Cha and Jacqueline Dupree
Today at 8:00 a.m. EST
This time last year, Claudia Hoyen, a pediatric infectious-disease specialist in Cleveland, remembers staring at an eerily empty hospital as Christmas approached. With many schools shut and activities canceled, most children had been sheltered from the coronavirus. Today, nearly every bed at the children’s hospital where she works is full.
FAQ: What to know about the omicron variant of the coronavirus
“We are in a difficult situation,” said Hoyen, at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital. “With omicron, we are now having this new surge on top of what was left over from delta.”
Add to that the normal cases of the flu, broken bones, scheduled treatments for children with cancer and other conditions, and the hospital is “in a crisis,” she said.
As the United States enters its third year of the pandemic, forecasters are predicting another ugly winter, but this time, children as well as adults are being affected. Pediatric hospitalizations for covid are surging in many parts of the country, alongside the arrival of omicron — as of Monday, the dominant strain in the United States — with about 800 new admissions each day for the past three days.
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By Ariana Eunjung Cha
Ariana Eunjung Cha is a national reporter. She has previously served as The Post's bureau chief in Shanghai and San Francisco, and as a correspondent in Baghdad. Twitter https://twitter.com/arianaeunjung
By Jacqueline Dupree
Jacqueline Dupree currently tracks COVID-19 case, hospitalization, and death numbers as reported by state health departments. Twitter https://twitter.com/jdland
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/12/24/omicron-children-hospitalizations-us/
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