New reports have brought this disheartening information to the light – that the children and teenagers belonging to Black and Brown communities are at a greater risk of dying due to COVID-19 while the white kids have an almost zero chance.
Earlier studies had showed that older adults among the Black and Brown communities were at a higher risk compared to white people, but in the case of kids the gap is so wide it’s frightening.
White kids are 26% but they make up only 8% of the cases
According to data released by US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, while the death rate for people younger than 21 is around 0.08% – it almost entirely consists of black and brown kids.
The data was collected from the 50 states of USA, along with the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and US Virgin Islands. The results were bewildering.
White people are around 26% of the US population but they make up only 8% of the reported cases.
75% of the deaths are minority children
Data on children’s death is even more shocking. Hispanic, Black, Native American, and Alaskan Natives are so affected in such large proportions.
Out of all the children that died, 44% of them were Hispanic children, 29% of them were Black children, 4% were Native American and Alaskan Natives, and 4% were Asian or Pacific Islanders.
White people are 26%, but the death for white children is approximately 14% – which is higher than the percentage of reported cases.
All of these communities comprise of nearly 41% of the US population but they account for 75% of the deaths due to Coronavirus.
25% of the deaths were healthy and well children with no medical conditions
Researchers said that 75% of these kids had underlying health conditions such as chronic lung disease, asthma, obesity, neurological and developmental conditions along with cardiovascular conditions.
But 25% of the kids who died had no underlying conditions and they were perfectly healthy.
That means 1 in 4 kids has the risk of dying due to COVID-19 even if they are healthy and well. It’s really not safe for schools to reopen.
The breakdown among the different age groups varied substantially, with those in the younger age groups doing better than adolescents and young adults. Approximately 10% of the deaths were in infants under the age of 1, an additional 9% were in children between 1 and 4, with another 11% in the 5-9 range and 10% in the 10-13 range. But almost 20% of the deaths were seen in teenagers between the ages of 14 and 17 and more than 40% were in 18 to 20 year-olds.
Featured Image Courtesy: CDC