SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) – As COVID-19 cases among kids continue to rise across the country, a check of Bay Area data shows a number of teens and children positive for the virus are needing more acute care.
While a majority of Bay Area hospitals are reporting no COVID patients under the age of 12, at least one hospital system is.
UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in San Francisco reported two pediatric COVID-19 patients Wednesday while Benioff Children’s in Oakland is treating eight.
Of the eight Oakland patients, two are between the ages of 2 and 5, while six of the patients are between 11 and 17.
UCSF says three of the Oakland patients have underlying conditions in addition to COVID and all three are in the pediatric ICU on ventilator support.
In most of the overall pediatric cases at UCSF, the parents were not vaccinated and none of the teens were vaccinated either.
As for Sutter, John Muir, and Santa Clara Valley Medical Center hospitals, none are treating COVID patients under the age of 12.
We are still waiting on the numbers from Kaiser.
Doctors maintain vaccination is the best defense against COVID-19 but with children under 12 unable to get their shots and many now in back to school settings case numbers are rising.
Data from the San Francisco Health Department shows case numbers in the five to ten age group have skyrocketed since last month.
Showing 195 and 184 cases in July and August respectively, up from just 29 and 32 cases in that age group in the months before.
Meanwhile, Napa County reported this week those under 18 represent the highest proportion of new cases.
Contra Costa County reports in the last 30 days, 1,500 new COVID cases are in kids 12 and under.