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The US state of New York’s health department has warned of a rise in the hospitalization of children getting infected with COVID-19.
According to Press TV, the New York State Department of Health made the announcement in a notice to doctors amid a rise in the omicron variant.
“NYSDOH is closely monitoring an upward trend in pediatric hospitalizations associated with COVID-19,” the notice read. The recent increases are concentrated in New York City and the surrounding greater metropolitan area. The sharpest rise is in New York City, with admissions rising 4-fold from the week, based on data from December 5, 2021 to the week starting December 19, 2021.”
The department further called on doctors to recommend enrolling in New York State’s vaccination program.
However, about half of the children hospitalized are under five, and therefore ineligible for the vaccine, according to the latest notice.
Lack of coronavirus tests during holiday season has, meanwhile, been cited as one of the reasons for the surge in COVID-19 in the public.
The White House’s Chief Medical Adviser, Anthony Fauci, has criticized testing options for not being more widely available throughout the country.
“I mean, if you look at the beginning of the administration, the beginning of the year, there were essentially no rapid point of care home tests available. Now, there are over nine of them and more coming,” he told ABC News. “I mean, I think things will improve greatly as we get into January, but that doesn’t help us today and tomorrow.”
