UVA Health continues to battle the omicron surge, and it’s hitting children harder than ever. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi has this update.
There are currently 111 patients at the UVA Medical Center hospitalized due to COVID – nine of whom are children. Dr. Costi Sifri, the health system's director of hospital epidemiology, said that the omicron surge has produced the highest number of COVID patients admitted at UVA since the pandemic began, including the most pediatric patients.
When asked about what effect school districts making masks optional for students could have on pediatric admissions or community transmission, Sifri said it's difficult to predict.
DR. COSTI SIFRI: But I think it is worth noting that we are having our highest rates of pediatric patients who are in the hospital right now with COVID … you know, it's often said that COVID is very mild in children, and by and large that's true, but COVID can be a significant infection in children, and has caused several hundred deaths in children. So, you know, it's important to understand that we are at the peak of this pandemic right now, in terms of total number of cases, and that about 18% or so of all cases right now are occurring in children.
Nearby school boards in Greene, Orange, and Madison counties chose to make masks optional for students in the last two weeks.
