Coronavirus Can Cause ‘Severe Illness’ in Children, CDC Warns

A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released Friday says the coronavirus can cause “severe illness” in children and adolescents.

From late June to mid-August, when there was an “increased circulation” of the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus, weekly COVID-associated hospitalization rates for children and adolescents rose nearly fivefold. Hospitalization rates, however, were “10 times higher among unvaccinated than among fully vaccinated adolescents,” the study said. India’s health ministry said Saturday morning that 42,618 new COVID cases were reported in the previous 24-hour period and 330 deaths. India is second only to the United States in COVID tolls. India has almost 33 million COVID-19 infections and 440,225 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. The U.S., Johns Hopkins says, has nearly 40 million infections and close to 650,000 deaths. Public health officials have warned, however, that India’s tolls are likely undercounted.