El Paso bucks national trend of increasing child hospitalizations from Covid

EL PASO, Texas – Nearly 200,000 children nationwide tested positive for COVID-19 during the week of Dec. 16 to 23 – that's up by about 50% since the beginning of December, according to a report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that an average of 378 children nationwide were admitted per day to hospitals with COVID-19. 

Those children were 17 and under, a 66% increase from the week before.

A spokesman for the El Paso Children’s Hospital said that they have seen an increase of over 30% in COVID-19 cases, although a majority of children are not admitted into the hospital. 

He said in December there have been 53 positive COVID patients, but not all have been admitted into El Paso Children’s Hospital. He said unlike what pediatric hospitals are seeing nationwide, El Paso's numbers are lower.

He adds that although the numbers are rising quickly among children, El Paso continues to have better outcomes due to the community’s high vaccination rate. El Paso Children's Hospital is also confident that resources are available for patients that need them the most.

Dr. Andres Boadella with AB Pediatric Health Clinic said about 65% of the children that have visited his clinic have tested positive for COVID-19. 

But Boadella said most infected people don't know they have Covid.

“A lot of them have come in for sore throat or other respiratory issues like cough, congestion, fever, we do ask if there has been COVID exposure and the majority of the people don’t know that they’ve been exposed,” said Boadella.

He said he expects the number of cases to increase after the New Year.

Boadella said as school returns to session, it's important that if your child has any COVID-19 symptoms or has been known to have been exposed to COVID, to get tested before going back to school.