Almost as many children aged 15 and under have been in hospital with Covid-19 in Swansea Bay over the last three months than the whole of the rest of the pandemic.
So far 93 children in Swansea and Neath Port Talbot have been ill enough to need inpatient treatment for Covid-19 since the pandemic began in March 2020. But almost half of those, 45, have been admitted this July, August and up to 24th September.
The increase in paediatric admissions mirrors a steep rise in Covid-19 community infection rates in comprehensive school age children in Swansea and Neath Port Talbot, currently running at one in 50 under-18s.
“These cases demonstrate that children are not invulnerable to Covid-19, and can and do become ill from it,” said Swansea Bay Director of Public Health, Dr Keith Reid.
“While children are much less likely than older adults to get seriously ill with Covid, it is noticeable and worrying that there is currently a spike in paediatric admissions.
“However this is not surprising given that there has been such a big rise overall in the numbers of comprehensive school age children getting Covid in our region. Unfortunately, there is also an increase in younger primary age children now testing positive as well.
“Swansea Bay currently has some of the highest overall Covid-19 infection rates in the UK, and younger people – particularly under-18s – are now by far the biggest single group of confirmed infections.”
Infection rates in school age children are now 3 to 4 times higher than any other age group, with around 500 youngsters infected in the last week alone
Swansea Bay is starting vaccinating 12-15 year-olds on Monday, 4th October. Letters are being sent to homes with appointments at mass vaccination centres in Swansea and Margam. The aim is have offered all young people in this age group an appointment letter by 1st November.
