6-year-old girl youngest to die in Florida from COVID-19 complications, health data shows
A 6-year-old girl from Hillsborough County has died from COVID-19 related complications, making her the youngest person in Florida to die from the disease, according to data by the state’s health department.
The girl’s death was included in Friday’s toll, according to the Florida Department of Health.
She is the first Hillsborough County resident under age 18 and the eighth child in the state known to have died from the disease, the state’s data shows.
Based on the state’s health records, officials don’t know a lot about the 6-year-old’s death yet. It is still “unknown” if the girl had been in contact with anyone who had recently tested positive for the disease or if she had recently traveled anywhere.
It is also still “unknown” if the girl was taken to the emergency room or had been hospitalized at some point during her illness, according to the health records.
No other information about the girl’s death was immediately available, including when she died or if she had any preexisting health conditions.
Previously, the youngest Florida resident confirmed to have died from COVID-19 complications was a 9-year-old girl from Putnam County. The other children were an 11-year-old boy from Miami-Dade, an 11-year-old girl from Broward County, a 16-year-old girl from Miami-Dade County, a 16-year-old girl from Lee County, a 17-year-old boy from Manatee County and a 17-year-old from Pasco County.
Three 19-year-old males — one from Gadsden County, one from Hillsborough County and one from Desoto County — are also included in Florida’s COVID-19 death toll, but because they are older than 18, they are not counted in the state’s pediatric report.
Are children at higher risk of COVID-19 infection?
Children are not believed to be at higher risk for COVID-19 than adults, but they can still fall ill with the disease and require hospitalization if the condition worsens, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Earlier this month, the CDC also updated its guidance for pediatric healthcare providers to note that while fewer cases of COVID-19 have been reported in children (age 0-17 years) compared with adults, “the number and rate of cases in children in the United States have been steadily increasing from March to July 2020.”
“The true incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children is not known due to lack of widespread testing and the prioritization of testing for adults and those with severe illness,” the guidance reads. “Hospitalization rates in children are significantly lower than hospitalization rates in adults with COVID-19, suggesting that children may have less severe illness from COVID-19 compared to adults.”
The guidance also states that the spread of COVID-19 among children might have been reduced in the United States during the pandemic in the spring and early summer because of school closures and “community mitigation measures,” such as stay-at-home orders.
“This may explain the low incidence in children compared with adults. Comparing trends in pediatric infections before and after the return to in-person school and other activities may provide additional understanding about infections in children,” the CDC’s guidance reads.
As of Sunday, 319,549 children under the age of 18 have been tested in Florida since the pandemic began in March, according to Florida’s Department of Health. Of those, 48,217 or 15.1% have tested positive for the disease. The state says 599 of those children have been hospitalized.
This story was originally published August 23, 2020 at 12:22 PM.
