Parents and children sled in Dumbo, Brooklyn, New York, the United States, on Jan. 7, 2022. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua)
The CDC expects COVID-19 children hospitalizations would continue to increase in the coming weeks.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. pediatric hospitalizations related to COVID-19 are at the highest level since the start of the pandemic, according to the latest data of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The country is averaging 893 new hospital admissions each day for children 17 years and under, a record high since the CDC started to track the number from August 2020.
Most of these hospitalizations are because of COVID-19, although some are children who were admitted for other causes but tested positive for COVID-19 when they were admitted or during their hospital stay, according to the CDC.
Parent and child pose for photo in front of the lion at the Art Institute of Chicago in downtown Chicago, the United States, on Jan. 1, 2022. (Photo by Vincent D. Johnson/Xinhua)
The country saw over 90,000 total hospital admissions for children 17 years old and under from Aug. 1, 2020 to Jan. 13, 2022, CDC data showed.
The highest hospitalization rates among all children are in those ages newborn to 4 years, who are not yet eligible for vaccination.
The Omicron variant does not appear to cause more severe disease in children than other variants of the virus, and the overall rates of pediatric hospitalizations are still lower than in any adult age group, according to the CDC.
The CDC expected COVID-19 children hospitalizations would continue to increase in the coming weeks and urged everyone ages 5 years and older to get a COVID-19 vaccine to help protect against COVID-19. ■
