Mount Nittany Medical Center is treating an 11-year-old for COVID-19, in what appears to be the first time a person younger than 18 has been admitted to the hospital for the coronavirus.
While Mount Nittany Medical Center has been seeing a growing number of people for COVID-19, until now, those being admitted were all adults.
On Tuesday, Mount Nittany Health’s dashboard showed a total of 38 hospitalized COVID patients, with the youngest 11 years old. The oldest is 89. As of last week, Mount Nittany had not had any pediatric admissions, according to a hospital administrator.
But, she noted, overall they have been seeing younger patients for Covid than previously.
That’s in keeping with what’s happening across Pennsylvania. According to the state Department of Health, the number of COVID-19 cases among school-aged children — those between 5-18 years old — is 12.2 times greater this year than last.
Statewide, between Sept. 15 and Sept. 21, 2020, there were a total of 650 COVID-19 cases in school-aged children compared to 7,928 cases in that age group during the same week in 2021, according to the Department of Health.
