Three-week-old baby in New York is confirmed as youngest patient to be diagnosed with coronavirus in US
- Infant was treated in hospital on Long Island and is now recovering at home
- Doctors say it is a reminder that children and infants are not immune to the virus
- A 17-year-old boy in LA was the first US child to die after getting coronavirus
- However, experts say that younger people are more likely to recover quickly
- Coronavirus symptoms: what are they and should you see a doctor?
A three-week-old infant in New York has been identified as the youngest patient in the U.S. to test positive for coronavirus.
The baby was treated at NYU Winthrop Hospital on Long Island in Mineola for several days, but has since been released and is now recuperating at home, according to Fox News.
Experts say that it serves as a reminder that children are not immune to coronavirus, warning parents to be on guard to protect their kids from potential exposure.
New York, now the U.S. epicenter of the outbreak, has at least 33,000 confirmed cases, more than 20,000 in New York City alone. The statewide death toll is nearing 300.
A three-week-old baby was treated for coronavirus at NYU Winthrop Hospital (above) on Long Island in Mineola for several days, but has since been released and is now recuperating
Workers at a Long Island drive-thru testing facility are seen last week. New York, now the U.S. epicenter of the outbreak, has at least 30,811 confirmed cases and nearly 300 deaths
Worldwide, the youngest confirmed case was a newborn baby in China who tested positive for coronavirus just 30 hours after birth.
Dr. Asif Noor, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at NYU Winthrop, told Fox News that doctors are prepared to treat child patients with supplemental oxygen if needed.
‘And when we plan to send them home if they don’t require oxygen. They can be observed safely at home,’ he said. ‘We are instructing these parents to adhere to common sense infection control precautions at home.’
Noor said that it was vitally important to remember to keep children who are symptomatic or test positive for coronavirus away from elderly family members, as well as family members with underlying health conditions.
Common symptoms include dry cough, fever and shortness of breath, but many patients, especially younger ones, appear to display very mild symptoms or no symptoms at all.
A vehicle pulls off the highway heading to a New York State Department of Health coronovirus COVID-19 testing facility at Jones Beach State Park on Long Island last week
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, while some children and infants have been infected with coronavirus, adults make up most of the known cases to date.
Previously, the youngest U.S. patient reported had been seven months old, and earlier this week the first American under the age of 18 died after testing positive for coronavirus — though the circumstances remain unclear.
Health officials in Los Angeles County announced on Tuesday that a 17 year old, who lived in Lancaster north of Los Angeles, had died of coronavirus.
Just hours later, after California Governor Gavin Newsom cited the boy’s death as evidence the virus can strike anyone, health officials said there may be an ‘alternate explanation’ and that his death would be further investigated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
‘Though early tests indicated a positive result for COVID-19, the case is complex and there may be an alternate explanation for this fatality,’ health officials said.
The teen is not thought to have had any underlying health conditions until he recently started suffering from respiratory problems.
Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris said the boy was treated in hospital but was released without being tested for coronavirus. He was then admitted to a second hospital where he died from septic shock, a reaction to a widespread infection that can cause dangerously low blood pressure and organ failure.
The teen’s positive coronavirus test did not come back until after his death.
His father, who is an Uber driver, has also since tested positive for coronavirus and is currently sick.
The mayor said he doesn’t doubt that the teen died from complications of COVID-19, saying: ‘We’re the first city in the nation to lose a child and that is unbearable to me.’