Local hospitals not yet seeing spike in COVID hospitalizations among children

Local children’s hospitals aren’t seeing a spike in kid hospitalizations due to COVID-19, standing against a growing national trend.

Watching kids fight COVID while hoping they win the battle has been Dr. Bazak Sharon’s reality since the start of the pandemic.

"It’s definitely very challenging. You see some heartbreaking stories," Dr. Sharon, a pediatric infectious disease physician at M Health Fairview, said.

He said kids catching COVID has been the norm.

"We have around two patients a week that will be admitted to the hospital because of what COVID is doing to them right now. Some would be very sick and spend some time in the ICU," he said.

But, he explained, the rate of cases at M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital isn’t slowing down or picking up.

"It’s not like we’re seeing way more patients right now, but unfortunately we don’t see less patients," Dr. Sharon said.

Children’s Minnesota is seeing a similar trend.

In the last two weeks, the COVID positivity rate jumped from 2.5% to 4.5%. Hospital officials said that’s no comparison to the nearly 12% positivity rate from last winter.

Overall, Children’s Minnesota officials said they’re not seeing a large number of kids being hospitalized for COVID.

Dr. Sharon said the delta variant has a hand in climbing cases because it’s more contagious. He’s still not ruling out a spike in COVID hospitalizations among children in the coming weeks.

"We definitely expect to see more numbers coming because there’s more infections coming," he said.

It’s back to the basics, and keeping kids safe starts with getting vaccinated, he said.

"If you live in a house with children, it’s a very easy choice to vaccinate. If you don’t do it for yourself or the herd immunity, do it for your kids," Dr. Sharon said.

Experts said there isn’t any data that concludes the delta variant is more dangerous for kids, compared to the original strain of the virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is working on that research.