COVID-19 ER visits and hospitalizations on the rise among Alberta kids

A Calgary doctor says the emergency room at Alberta Children's Hospital is treating more children for COVID-19 now than during any other wave of the pandemic.

COVID-19 rates among five- to 11-year-olds, who are too young to be vaccinated, skyrocketed in September. And, with such high transmission rates, experts were expecting a corresponding surge in ER visits and hospitalizations.

"The number and frequency of children that we are seeing seeking emergency department care that are testing positive for COVID is higher than at any other time during the pandemic," said Dr. Stephen Freedman, pediatric emergency room physician at Alberta Children's Hospital and professor in the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary.

"That's reflected in the overall positivity rate in this age group which is higher than it's ever been and it's much, much higher than any other age group."

According to Freedman, his ER is seeing between two and five children per day who are positive for COVID.

"The good news is the majority of these children are still mildly ill — still able to be managed as outpatients. But some do require admission and we do occasionally have a child who is acutely unwell, requiring intensive care unit hospitalization"

Freedman said adults have a much higher rate of severe illness and death from a COVID-19 infection. But as more children catch the virus, there will be a corresponding rise in the number of kids who end up critically ill.